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Pine Brook Road Partners Forms Joint Venture With Comet Ridge to Develop U.S. Oil & Gas Assets

Posted on: Thursday, 24 July 2008, 09:01 CDT

Pine Brook Road Partners, LLC, a private equity firm that makes business building and growth capital investments in energy and financial services, today announced the formation of a joint venture with Comet Ridge Ltd., an oil and gas exploration and production company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX: COI), to develop the company's U.S.-based oil and gas assets. Under terms of the agreement, Pine Brook Partners will provide up to $100 million of funding and hold a majority stake in the business, with Comet Ridge Ltd. and company management retaining a significant stake.

The joint venture, Comet Ridge Resources, owns the portfolio of exploration and development assets previously held by Comet Ridge Ltd. in the Pacific Northwest and in the Rockies. The joint venture plans to begin drilling immediately on its acreage in the Florence oil field in Colorado, and geological and geophysical operations will commence later this year over the 425,000 acres it has optioned in the Grays Harbor Basin in Washington State.

"The investment in Comet Ridge is consistent with our practice of providing growth capital to exceptional management teams in an effort to build companies of meaningful scale," explained Howard Newman, President and CEO of Pine Brook. "Comet Ridge, in addition to its management talent, has meaningful intellectual property for exploring its acreage in the Rockies and Pacific Northwest."

Andy Lydyard, President & CEO of Comet Ridge Resources, stated, "The commitment of Pine Brook is a strong endorsement of the strategy, people, and projects that Comet Ridge has assembled in the United States. We are very pleased to be partnering with the Pine Brook team and highly value the experience they bring to the joint venture."

"Andy Lydyard and his team are widely known in the oil patch to be business builders and oil finders," added Craig Jarchow, a Managing Director at Pine Brook. "We have known Andy and members of his team for over a decade, and we are pleased to finally have the opportunity to work with them in this promising joint venture."

About Pine Brook Road Partners, LLC

Pine Brook Road Partners, LLC, is a New York-based private equity firm established in 2006 by a team of experienced private equity professionals to make business building and growth capital investments, primarily in the energy and financial services sectors, where the firm's partners have more than 100 years of experience. Pine Brook typically backs experienced management teams in building businesses that have the potential for significant long-term capital appreciation. For more information please visit the company's web site at www.pinebrookpartners.com.

About Comet Ridge Limited

Comet Ridge Ltd is an Australian-listed oil and gas explorer transitioning to producer with projects in Australia and USA. The Company's strategy is to control large acreage positions covering oil and gas opportunities in mature fields and in proven, but overlooked basins. As much as possible, it operates these projects in order to directly control desired outcomes.

Source: Business Wire

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