Greewood Village, Colo.-based Denver Mineral & Royalty Co. LLC has been formed to buy producing and nonproducing mineral, royalty and overriding royalty interests in the U.S. James Powers is manager, and Dennis Flyr is vice president of acquisitions. They can be reached at 303-785-1582.

Corpus Christi, Texas-based LMP Exploration Operating LLC has been formed with $35 million of equity capital from Greenhill Capital Partners LLC and Lime Rock Partners. The principals of LMP Exploration Inc., the predecessor to LMP Exploration, contributed 20 oil and gas prospects as well as land. The new company will focus on south Texas. The management team includes Duncan Chisholm, James Gresham, Michael Lucente, Michael Pedrotti, Gregory Robins and Jeff Uecker.

Calgary-based Midnight Oil and Gas Ltd. (Toronto: MOG) plans to reorganize into Daylight Energy Trust and a new, publicly listed, exploration-focused gas producer, Midnight Oil Exploration Co.

Orion Energy Partners LLC has been formed by former Tom Brown Inc. executives including Jim Lightner, Tom Dyk, Dan Blanchard, Doug Harris and Rod Mellott. Orion is based in Denver. The team can be reached at 303-595-3030. Tom Brown was purchased this summer by EnCana Corp.