Brigham Secures More Capital For Permian Basin Expansion

Brigham Exploration Co. LLC is looking to grow its nonoperated acreage position in the prolific Permian Basin with the addition of new equity capital on March 18 for its subsidiary, BEXP I LP, from institutional and private investors.

BEXP was founded by oil and gas entrepreneur Ben M. “Bud” Brigham in 2017 to acquire nonoperated working interests in the Midland and Delaware basins. The company’s formation followed the sale of Brigham Resources, one of Brigham’s several successful ventures, to Diamondback Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FANG) for $2.6 billion in cash and stock.

The acquisition of Brigham Resources, which closed in March 2017, included 80,185 net acres in the Delaware and was the start of a transformation for Diamondback. Last year, the Midland, Texas-based producer purchased both Energen Corp. and Ajax Resources LLC for a combined $10 billion in deals announced less than a week apart in August 2018.

Around the time Diamondback announced the Energen and Ajax acquisitions, Brigham told attendees of an industry conference in Houston that Brigham Resources was in the process of going public when they decided to sell to Diamondback.

“We would’ve made a lot more money going public, then Diamondback came along and [they’re] just an outstanding company. … That ended up being a really good transaction for us and good for all our employees and, I think, good for Diamondback as well,” he said during Summer NAPE on Aug. 15. “There’s plenty of opportunity out there [and] we saw an opportunity to take some chips off the table and go redeploy.”

Brigham’s goal for his latest venture, BEXP, is to create long-term value by leveraging the knowledge and expertise of his management team to invest in the Permian Basin’s continued growth as “the premier oil and gas province.”

BEXP’s management team includes Keith Lilie as president and CEO, Jim Mothershead as COO and John Turn as CFO. Directors also include Vince Brigham, Dick Schmidt and Jim Edsel.

“As the basin progresses toward development mode, we see no better way to capture optimal wellhead returns than aggregating a diverse portfolio of nonoperated acreage with top tier operators,” Brigham said in March 18 statement.

Brigham’s track record also includes the original Brigham Exploration, which he sold to Statoil, now known as Equinor ASA (NYSE: EQNR), for $4.7 billion in 2011.

Other ventures founded by Brigham include Brigham Minerals LLC, one of the largest mineral and royalty companies in the U.S., and Atlas Sand Co. LLC, which currently operates two sand mines in the Permian Basin.

Emily Patsy can be reached at epatsy@hartenergy.com.