Downturn Creates Chance for Tulsa’s BlueStone Natural Resources to Expand

While many major oil and gas companies are retrenching amidst the energy downturn, Tulsa-based BlueStone Natural Resources is expanding with the recent $245 million purchase of bankrupt oil and gas producer Quicksilver Resources of Fort Worth, Texas.

The Oklahoma firm, with about 70 employees, emerged as the top bidder from a 20-hour long Chapter 11 bankruptcy auction held last week. Bluestone’s purchase is backed by Natural Gas Partners, which is a private-equity firm in Irving, Texas that was founded by the late Fort Worth financier Richard Rainwater.

“We love the assets. We believe in a strong growth strategy in Texas,” said C.B. Rowan, Bluestone’s chief financial officer in an interview with The Dallas Morning News. “This sale maximizes value for the benefit of our creditors in the face of difficult market conditions.”

Bluestone is a Tulsa company created in 2012 with a $115 million commitment from management and Natural Gas Partner Fund X. Since then, the company has completed more than 30 transactions that led to the ownership in more than 800 wells in South Texas and the Barnett shale plays.

Quicksilver, with 165 employees, filed for bankruptcy in March 2015 and said its assets in the U.S. were valued at $1.21 billion. But those values were written down in recent months because of the volatility in the oil and gas markets. Its holdings included acreage near Alliance Airport and the Texas Motor speedway in Fort Worth and assets in the Permian Basin in West Texas. It also had assets in Canada. At the time, Quicksilver listed $2.35 billion in debt.

The proposed sale is to go before a bankruptcy judge for apparent approval in Delaware on Wednesday.