Sources say another company is considering $1.3B acquisition for Crescent Midstream’s facilities and pipelines focused on Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico.
Crescent Midstream has received and is considering a takeover offer worth around $1.3 billion, according to an April 22 report from Bloomberg.
The report was based on unnamed sources and did not specify which company expressed interest in Crescent, which is backed by the Carlyle Group.
Crescent Midstream CEO Jerry Ashcroft declined to comment in an April 23 email to Hart Energy.
The Crescent network serves more than 80 offshore platforms, according to the company’s website. The company owns more than 1,200 miles of pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) and Louisiana that transport approximately 200 MMbbl per year.
The company started as Crimson Midstream in 2005. It was sold to the CorEnergy Infrastructure Trust and eventually emerged as independent Crescent Midstream. In 2021, the Carlyle Group took majority interest in Crescent in 2021, when the company began growing rapidly.
Shifting its focus from California to the GoM, the company managed to triple its size over two years from acquiring the Grand Isle Gathering System off Louisiana and eventually buying a 36% stake in the Cameron Highway Oil Pipeline System worth $418 million.
In 2022, Crescent partnered with Spain’s Repsol and Cox Operating to develop a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in the GoM. Crescent planned to build a 110-mile CO2 pipeline from refining plants in Geismar, Louisiana, to the coast in Grand Isle. In 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy provided $8.4 million in federal funding to the $10.6 million project as a way to show that offshore CCS projects are feasible.
Cox Operating filed for bankruptcy in 2023. At the time, Ashcroft said the project would continue to move forward.
Midstream M&A activity over the past two years has not been as active as in the E&P sector, which saw several blockbuster deals in 2023, such as the Exxon Mobil and Pioneer Natural Resources merger.
East Daley Analytics noted in December 2023 that the midstream sector is “ripe” for M&A. So far in 2024, the largest announced deal is EQT’s planned acquisition of its former midstream unit, Equitrans,for $5.45 billion.
RELATED
EQT Deal to ‘Vertically Integrate’ Equitrans Faces Steep Challenges
Recommended Reading
US NatGas Futures Hit Over 2-week Low on Lower Demand View
2024-04-15 - U.S. natural gas futures fell about 2% to a more than two-week low on April 15, weighed down by lower demand forecasts for this week than previously expected.
US Natgas Prices Hit 5-week High on Rising Feedgas to Freeport LNG, Output Drop
2024-04-10 - U.S. natural gas futures climbed to a five-week high on April 10 on an increase in feedgas to the Freeport LNG export plant and a drop in output as pipeline maintenance trapped gas in Texas.
CERAWeek: Two Minutes with EQT’s Toby Rice on Energy Security
2024-03-22 - EQT Corp. President and CEO Toby Z. Rice spoke to Hart Energy on March 20 on the sidelines of CERAWeek by S&P Global to discuss natural gas infrastructure bottlenecks, energy security and the company’s advances on LNG.
Antero Poised to Benefit from Second Wave of LNG
2024-02-20 - Despite the U.S. Department of Energy’s recent pause on LNG export permits, Antero foresees LNG market growth for the rest of the decade—and plans to deliver.
Commentary: Fact-checking an LNG Denier
2024-03-10 - Tampa, Florida, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor blamed domestic natural gas producers for her constituents’ higher electricity bills in 2023. Here’s the truth, according to Hart Energy's Nissa Darbonne.