Ridgewood Energy

Founded in 1982 by Bob Swanson, who possesses nearly three decades of experience in energy projects in the United States and in the United Kingdom, Ridgewood Energy began focusing solely on United States Gulf of Mexico projects in 1987. The company enters into project-partnerships with oil and gas exploration and production companies and acquires interest in state and federal lease blocks in the Gulf on behalf of significant institutional and high-net-worth investors via the Ridgewood private investment funds. To date, the Ridgewood Companies have raised more than $2.7 billion for investment.

Explored and drilled for more than six decades, the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico has a considerable amount of pipeline and other oil-production infrastructure already in place. Ridgewood Energy seeks projects with the potential to benefit from the existing equipment, thus saving time and money when bringing successful projects on production. Each possible project the firm considers undergoes rigorous due diligence by its team of petroleum engineers, geologists, geophysicists, and other experts. The company vets potential partners for reputation, experience, commitment to safety, and record of success.

The company focuses on the US Gulf of Mexico because of its long-lived oil and gas assets and the fact that the hydrocarbon basin is one of the places that is widely believed to have significant undiscovered reservoirs. Ridgewood Energy also recognizes the importance of investing in U.S. oil and gas assets to alleviate the country’s dependence on foreign oil. The firm’s funds hold interest in 32 active wells and 71 government lease blocks totaling more than 460 miles. Project partners of Ridgewood Energy have included LLOG Exploration Company, LLC; El Paso Corporation; Deep Gulf Energy LP; and Chevron Corporation.

With offices in Houston, Texas, and Montvale, New Jersey, Ridgewood Energy is an affiliate of Ridgewood Capital, a venture-capital firm focusing on energy-technology related businesses. Ridgewood Energy continues to expand its portfolios through a combination of opportunistic acquisition and exploration.