(Source: Business Wire)

TEAK Midstream, LLC today announced that it has secured a $100 million
private equity investment from Natural Gas Partners (NGP), a leading
energy private equity firm based in Irving, Texas. TEAK, a Dallas-based
midstream start-up, will use the private equity investment to acquire
and develop midstream assets in key gas producing areas of the United
States.
TEAK Midstream is led by A. Chris Aulds and James R. Wales. Together,
Aulds and Wales have more than 55 years of oil and gas industry
experience and proven expertise launching and growing start-up midstream
companies. Prior to starting TEAK, they were two of the original three
founders of Crosstex Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ symbol: XTXI) where they were
instrumental in growing the company from a $4 million start-up in 1996
to a $3 billion publicly traded company at the time of their departure
in 2007.
"TEAK's solid financial backing from Natural Gas Partners combined with
our experience starting and growing midstream companies provides a
unique blend of business acumen and access to capital," says TEAK
Co-Chief Executive James R. Wales.
Through strategic acquisitions and greenfield projects, TEAK will
provide midstream services including gathering, transmission, treating,
processing, compression, marketing and price risk management. The
company will initially focus on gas production areas in Texas,
Louisiana, Oklahoma and Mississippi with anticipated geographic
expansion based on customer needs.
"Jim and I look forward to working with industry colleagues again," says
TEAK Co-Chief Executive A. Chris Aulds. "The timing is right for a new
customer service oriented midstream company with proven experience
acquiring and developing midstream assets to support our customer's
growth plans. The capital investment from our private equity partner
will assist in our ability to meet customer needs."
About A. Chris Aulds
Prior to founding TEAK Midstream, Aulds was a senior executive and
founding partner at Crosstex Energy Services. While at Crosstex, he
managed several divisions of the company including the Producer Services
Group, Treating Division and Crosstex' Eastern Division which included
transmission, gathering and processing in East Texas, Louisiana,
Mississippi, Alabama and eastern Oklahoma. Prior to starting Crosstex,
Aulds was Vice President of gas supply and marketing for Comstock
Natural Gas; Vice President in charge of gas supply, marketing, new
business development and risk management services at Victoria Gas
Corporation; and held field engineering and natural gas marketing roles
at Mobil Oil Corporation. Aulds has a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from
Texas Tech University.
About James R. Wales
Prior to founding TEAK Midstream, Wales was a senior executive and
founding partner at Crosstex Energy Services. While at Crosstex, he led
the business development group; managed the company's Southern Division
including transmission, gathering and processing in South and North
Texas; and served as head of the Commercial Division. Prior to starting
Crosstex, Wales was one of the founders of Sunrise Energy Services, Inc.
He helped build Sunrise from a start-up to one of the largest publicly
traded independent natural gas marketing companies in the United States.
Prior to starting Sunrise, Wales held positions with Producers Gas
Company, a subsidiary of Lear Petroleum; Triumph Natural Gas, Inc.; and
Union Carbide. He is a former Chairman of the National Energy Services
Association. He has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of
Michigan and a Law Degree from the South Texas College of Law.
About TEAK Midstream
TEAK Midstream LLC provides gathering, transmission, treating,
processing, compression, marketing and price risk management services in
key gas producing areas of the United States. For more information on
TEAK Midstream, visit www.teakmidstream.com
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