ECP to provide equity capital to Next Wave to focus on midstream, downstream petrochem and fuels assets

Next Wave Energy Partners, LP announced that Energy Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on investing in North America’s energy infrastructure, has made an investment in the company. ECP will provide Next Wave with up to US$500 mln in equity capital to focus on the development, operation, acquisition and expansion of midstream and downstream petrochemical and fuels assets. ECP is joined by members of Next Wave’s senior management in the investment. Next Wave’s core capabilities include customized toll processing, manufacturing and logistics solutions for natural gas liquids, petrochemicals and gasoline blending components. The company, which is focused on opportunities in the United States and Canada, expects to utilize ECP’s funding to pursue greenfield development projects and potential acquisitions. Next Wave is led by its four founders: Patrick Diamond, executive chairman; Michael Bloesch, president and chief executive officer; Dan Fahey, vice president of engineering and technology; and Sean Diamond, vice president of operations and commercial. The Next Wave management team has nearly nine decades of collective energy industry experience with a focus on midstream, petrochemical and fuels value chains. “The renaissance in North American hydrocarbon production has had a ripple effect on the energy industry, creating waves of opportunity further down the value chain,” said Next Wave Executive Chairman Patrick Diamond. “The outlook for abundant and reasonably priced NGL volumes in North America provides an opportunity for U.S. companies to use these products and their derivatives in value-added ways that compete with or complement the export market. Changing crude oil quality profiles and refinery product slates create additional complexities that ripple across the system and add to the opportunity set.” “These developments are altering the traditional relationships between natural gas liquids, petrochemicals and fuels, driving value chains to become increasingly intertwined,” said Next Wave President and CEO Michael Bloesch. “Next Wave will capitalize on these changing market dynamics to create value for our customers by optimizing their value chains and further developing markets for their products; thus, we are focused on building strong, collaborative and long-term relationships with our customers. Our team has a proven track record of project conception, development and execution, as well as the technical expertise and experience necessary to successfully design and safely and reliably operate midstream and downstream assets.”