• Bill Bethea and David McCubbin, formerly of W&T Offshore Inc., have formed Explore Enterprises LLC to acquire and exploit properties in the Gulf of Mexico. Bethea was chief operating officer of privately held Metairie, La.-based W&T, and McCubbin was executive vice president. Bethea has sold his interest in W&T. The new company is based in Baton Rouge, La. • Grey Goose Resources LLC has been formed by Arthur (Sandy) Riese, Steve Antry and Michael Greer. The new company's anchor project is a 50% joint venture with Tulsa-based New Dominion LLC to further exploit 50,000 acres in central Oklahoma. The three-year project will consist of approximately 100 vertical and horizontal wells to dewater the Hunton Limestone and additional formations. Additionally, the viability of a Barnett Shale equivalent will be tested. Grey Goose's capex for the project is expected to exceed $38 million. • Latigo Petroleum, Tulsa, has been formed with $300 million of private-equity funding from Warburg Pincus LLC and JP Morgan Partners. Latigo will launch an exploration and development drilling program and make strategic acquisitions in targeted areas within the Midcontinent region. Randy A. Foutch, who founded Lariat Petroleum Inc. with Warburg Pincus funding and sold it to Newfield Exploration, is founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Latigo. Foutch is joined at Latigo by several ex-Lariat managers.

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