Black Diamond Minerals, LLC (“Black Diamond”), a private oil and gas company headquartered in Denver, today  announced its formation by Scott Hall and Ward Giltner, through the acquisition of assets previously owned by entities controlled by Mr. Hall and Mr. Giltner. The acquired producing assets are located in the southwestern corner of Wyoming, in the greater Green River Basin.  Black Diamond’s focus will be adding value through strategic acquisitions and developing assets located primarily in the Rocky Mountain and on shore California regions of the United States.

Black Diamond  is also  pleased to  announce that they  have received  an equity commitment of $40 million from Natural Gas Partners.  The proceeds will be used for repayment of debt, development of existing assets, pursuit of acquisitions, and general corporate purposes.

Finally, Black Diamond announced that it has added two key employees to its staff, Mr. Robert (Bob) Lamarre and Ms. Margaret Leiser.  Mr. Lamarre has been named VP of Exploration, and was previously with Texaco, where he discovered the prolific Drunkards Wash Field in central Utah. Ms. Leiser has been named the VP of Business Development, and was also previously with Texaco, where she worked the Rocky Mountain and Mid-Continent regions of the United States.

“We are very pleased to have a financial partner with the capabilities, experience, and financing capacity of Natural Gas Partners,” stated Mr. Hall, CEO of Black Diamond. “Our new equity partner provides us with the capital resources to convert our inventory of development projects and offers us a competitive advantage as we aggressively pursue acquisition opportunities.”  

Black Diamond’s CFO, Mr. Giltner added, “The addition of Bob and Margaret provides Black Diamond with the additional experience and expertise we need to both find and execute on the opportunities before us.”

Rivington Capital Advisors, LLC,  and its affiliate, Rivington Securities, LLC, acted as exclusive financial advisor to Black Diamond and sole placement agent for the financing transaction.

LEGAL DISCLOSURE: Certain statements in this news release constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, particularly any express or implied statements concerning future financial condition or operating results.  Although Black Diamond Minerals, LLC believes that the expectations reflected herein are reasonable, the matters discussed in this release involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may delay, prevent or adversely affect the transaction or  its planned activities and operations.  There can be no assurance that such expectations will prove correct.  All forwardlooking statements are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.