(Bloomberg) -- Refining billionaire Paul Foster is seeking to sell Franklin Mountain Energy, one of the last large closely held oil producers in the Permian Basin, according to people familiar with the matter.
Franklin Mountain hired Jefferies Financial Group Inc. to run the sale, with the price expected to be about $3 billion, according to the people who asked to not be identified discussing confidential information. The Denver-based company’s assets are focused on one of the fastest-growing areas in the largest US oil basin.
Franklin Mountain didn’t respond to emails and phone calls seeking comment.
Closely held Permian producers have become hot property in the past two years as larger operators seek to extend their runway of future well locations as the basin moves closer to peak production, expected sometime in the early 2030s. Occidental Petroleum Corp. recently closed its $10.8 billion acquisition of CrownRock LP, while Diamondback Energy Inc. is awaiting regulatory approval for its $26 billion purchase of Endeavor Energy Resources LP.
Foster made his name in the refining business and sold Western Refining Inc. to Tesoro Corp. for about $5.8 billion in 2017 with Marathon Petroleum Corp. agreeing to buy the combined entity a year later. He founded Franklin Mountain Energy in 2018, assembling a highly desirable acreage position in Lea County, New Mexico, in the Delaware part of the Permian Basin.
Lea and its neighbor Eddy County have been the primary driver of the Permian Basin’s oil production growth in recent years due to their highly productive layers of shale rock.
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