Northstar Announces Start-Up of New Gulf of Mexico Based Exploration and Production Company, Following Successful Sale of Last Two Companies for $466 Million.

HOUSTON, April 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Northstar, a portfolio company of Natural Gas Partners (NGP), today announced it had created and capitalized a new company called Northstar Offshore Group, LLC, and, effective February 1, 2012, has entered into letters of intent to acquire producing assets in the Gulf of Mexico shelf and begin drilling.  This is the third such company launched by the Northstar management team, which has reconstituted once again to lead the new venture.

Northstar's first company was formed as Northstar GOM in 2006 and sold in 2008 for $265 million.  The group then started Northstar Offshore Energy Partners, which it sold to a Korean consortium last December for $201 million.  To date, the group's operations have encompassed a total of 124 blocks, 65 producing fields, 19 operated fields, and 245 producing wells.

Focusing on shallow-water assets on the Gulf of Mexico shelf, Northstar's strategy will continue to participate in acquisitions, production enhancement, workovers, and lower-risk exploration alliances.

About Natural Gas Partners

Founded in 1988, Natural Gas Partners (NGP) is a $7.2 billion family of private equity investment funds organized to make investments in the natural resources sector.  NGP is part of the investment platform of NGP Energy Capital Management, a premier investment franchise in the natural resources industry, which together with our affiliates has managed over $9.5 billion in committed capital since 1988.

About Northstar Offshore Group, LLC

Northstar Offshore Group, LLC (Northstar) is an oil and gas production company headquartered in Houston, Texas and strategically focused in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM).  For more information, please go to: www.nstaroffshore.com

S. Glynn Roberts
President, Northstar Offshore Group, LLC
[email protected]
713-626-1887

SOURCE Northstar Offshore Energy Partners, LLC