HOUSTON and TYLER, Texas, April 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Quantum Energy Partners (“Quantum”) is pleased to announce the formation of Ryno Energy Partners, LLC (“Ryno” or the “Company”) with its founders Brandon T. Steele (“Steele”) and David A. Fitch (“Fitch”). Ryno is a new midstream company led by a management team with decades of experience across the design, construction and operation of integrated natural gas transportation, processing and treating assets, as well as natural gas liquids transportation and fractionation facilities. Ryno will leverage its team’s extensive experience by delivering flexible and cost-effective solutions to its E&P and midstream customers across North America. Quantum and members of the Ryno management team have collectively made initial capital commitments to the Company in excess of $400 million, with the ability to increase such capital commitments to support strategic joint venture opportunities with its customers.
Steele is Ryno’s Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and has over 16 years of oil and gas industry leadership experience. Steele co-founded KP Engineering, LP (“KPE”), a leading engineering, procurement and construction (“EPC”) firm based out of Tyler, TX. Founded in 2003, KPE has successfully completed over 600 projects in the midstream, refining, petrochemicals, syngas, alternative fuels and terminals spaces for over 60 diverse customers.
Fitch is Ryno’s President and Chief Operating Officer and comes to Ryno with over 25 years of midstream leadership experience. Prior to the formation of Ryno, Fitch served as Senior Vice President of Northeast Operations at MarkWest Energy Partners, L.P. (“MarkWest”) where he led engineering, construction and operations for MarkWest’s gas gathering, processing and fractionation business in the Marcellus and Utica Shale plays. While at MarkWest, Fitch was instrumental in the development and operations of the largest integrated midstream system in Appalachia, with a total build-out of approximately 1,250 miles of gathering, 6 Bcfpd of processing and 430 MBpd of fractionation capacity.
Ryno will focus on large-scale development, acquisition and joint venture opportunities with E&P and midstream companies across the U.S. As part of this strategy, Ryno intends to differentiate itself by offering its partners full-service midstream solutions through leveraging KPE’s low-cost EPC capabilities and speed to market with integrated engineering, design and construction of midstream infrastructure assets. This first-of-its-kind, integrated capability uniquely positions Ryno to compete for project development opportunities, strategic partnerships and/or asset acquisition opportunities in both mature and growing resource plays.
Steele remarked on the closing, “We are honored with the trust afforded to us through this partnership with Quantum. The ability to leverage the Ryno team’s project execution and operational experience with KPE’s trusted and proven design and construction expertise will make Ryno a unique value-added partner in the midstream space through organic growth projects and strategic partnerships with our upstream and midstream customers.”
Wil VanLoh, Founder and CEO of Quantum, commented, “We are excited to be partnering with Brandon, Dave and the rest of the Ryno team who bring an exceptional track record of execution and customer service to the combined Ryno and KPE service offering. As we strive to identify midstream platforms that have a unique competitive advantage in a crowded midstream space, we are confident that this platform offers public and private E&P and midstream companies a unique solution to access capital along with deep midstream commercial and construction expertise at a quality level, cost point and speed that can’t be accessed elsewhere.”
About Quantum Energy Partners
Founded in 1998, Quantum Energy Partners is a leading provider of private equity capital to the global energy industry, having managed together with its affiliates more than $16 billion in equity commitments since inception. For more information on Quantum, please visit www.quantumep.com. For investor relations, please contact Michael Dalton at (713) 452-2110. To discuss an investment opportunity with Quantum, please contact Eric Nielsen at (713) 452-2050.
About Ryno Energy Partners, LLC
Headquartered in Tyler, TX and with offices in Canonsburg, Denver, Houston and Tulsa, Ryno is a growth-oriented, independent midstream company that provides a full-suite of gas, natural gas liquids and crude oil solutions from wellhead to downstream markets. Ryno’s senior leadership team has extensive history of project development from conventional midstream applications, such as gathering, processing and fractionation, to more complex, large-scale chemical, refining and storage solutions. For more information on Ryno, please visit www.rynoenergy.com.
About KP Engineering, LP
KP Engineering, LP is a Tyler, TX based company providing value-based EPC solutions to clients in the refining, midstream, chemical and syngas industries. KPE provides a full range of EPC services and specializes in fixed-price contracting. KPE combines technical expertise and deep experience with an integrated engineering and project management approach to deliver cost-effective projects to markets such as domestic refiners, natural gas processors, chemical manufacturers and storage terminal operators. For more information on KPE, please visit www.kpe.com.