Bright Horizon Resources formed by former Samson executives

BY ROD WALTON World Staff Writer
Friday, February 01, 2013
3/12/13 at 2:53 PM

Several former Samson Investment Co. employees have banded together to form a Tulsa-based energy company supported by a $300 million commitment from a Houston private equity fund.

Bright Horizon Resources was formed to pursue oil and natural gas opportunities in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana fields, its officials say. The new company does not own any properties yet but hopes to make some deals soon out of its temporary offices at One Warren Place and future home at Two Warren.

"We are looking to fill up that deal pipeline," Bright Horizon CEO Dudley Viles said Thursday.

Viles started the company with some of his former Samson co-workers, including Bright Horizon's land vice president, Doug Black; geology vice president David Clupper; Chief Financial Officer Craig Loseke; and Carl Burgman, vice president of operations and engineering.

Black, Clupper and Burgman all left Samson well before its December 2011 sale to New York equity firm KKR & Co, a company spokeswoman said. Loseke worked for Samson until approximately six months after the $7.2 billion buyout by KKR.

Viles departed Samson in 2009 after a 24-year career. He focused on charity work for a while until the bug to make some new deals and work with old friends bit him again.

"It was time to recharge the batteries," Viles said of his three-year hiatus. "But I needed some new challenges, so it was let's get back into the oil and gas business, which I love. It was the opportunity to start something from scratch with a blank slate."

Bright Horizon's equity partner is Denham Capital, of Houston. Moving forward, the Tulsa team hopes to focus on the Anadarko Basin of western Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle, as well as oil and gas properties in southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana.

Viles predicted that Bright Horizon could be a five- to seven-year deal building a company which can then be sold at a profit for its backers.

"Our intent is to build a substantial company with the backing we have from Denham," he said.

Denham Capital altogether has about $7.3 billion invested with companies, mostly in the mining and commodities sectors. The companies Denham has supplied with equity include Cascade Petroleum, Energy Transfer Equity LP, Galveston LNG and Tulsa-based propane distributor NGL Energy Partners LP, which also offices in the Two Warren building at 61st Street and Yale Avenue.

Original Print Headline: Former Samson execs start new firm

Rod Walton 918-581-8457
rod.walton@tulsaworld.com