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Five Point Energy
Five Point Energy formed in 2012 when CEO and Managing Partner David Capobianco spun out of Riverstone Holdings, the energy-focused private equity firm.
Five Point Energy
Five Point Energy formed in 2012 when CEO and Managing Partner David Capobianco spun out of Riverstone Holdings, the energy-focused private equity firm. Riverstone provided anchor capital and strategic support for the Houston-based platform. The firm concentrates on midstream and environmental infrastructure — the pipelines, saltwater disposal wells, recycling facilities and compression stations that move oil, gas and produced water from the Permian Basin and other unconventional plays. This is not exploration and production; it is the logistics layer beneath it. The firm's strategy centers on acquiring and consolidating midstream assets that sit at the wellhead-to-market pinch point. Its most visible vehicle has been WaterBridge Resources, a produced-water midstream company that grew through acquisitions across the Delaware Basin. Five Point builds these portfolio companies from the ground up — modular, asset-heavy, contracted against dedicated acreage dedications from upstream operators. The firm deploys capital across gathering and transportation, water disposal and recycling, and compression and processing. Geographic coverage concentrates in the Permian Basin (Texas and New Mexico), with exposure to Oklahoma's SCOOP/STACK and other resource plays. Five Point does not disclose AUM, but its formations have drawn capital from institutional limited partners alongside Riverstone commitments. In May 2024, NGL Energy Partners closed the previously announced sale of its South Raney water disposal assets to a Five Point affiliate for $50 million in cash (per NGL Energy Partners press release, May 2024). This kind of bolt-on transaction defines the firm's consolidation playbook: acquire, integrate into a scaled water or midstream platform, and contract the acreage long-term. What separates Five Point from a broad energy PE firm is its refusal to touch upstream drilling risk. The firm owns surface and subsurface infrastructure that producers must use regardless of their own well economics — a toll-road model applied to oilfield water and flowlines. That structural insulation from commodity price swings, combined with a management team that came up inside Riverstone's energy-credit and midstream groups, makes it a specialist infrastructure investor wearing the label of a private equity firm.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2012
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Houston
Corporate office
Houston, Texas, United States
Principals
David Capobianco
CEO and Managing Partner
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Five Point Energy?
David Capobianco, the firm's founder, serves as CEO and Managing Partner and leads the investment committee. He launched Five Point in 2012 after a tenure at Riverstone Holdings where he focused on midstream and energy-credit investing. The firm operates with a lean Houston-based team that blends private-equity structuring with midstream-operating expertise.
How does Five Point Energy source proprietary deal flow?
Five Point sources deals through long-standing relationships with upstream producers who dedicate acreage to Five Point's midstream platforms in exchange for guaranteed water disposal and gathering capacity. The firm also acquires non-core water and midstream assets from E&P operators and from other infrastructure owners who are rationalizing portfolios. The acquisition of NGL Energy Partners' South Raney disposal assets in May 2024 typifies this approach (per NGL Energy Partners press release, May 2024).
Is Five Point Energy structured as a private equity firm or an infrastructure operator?
It operates as both. Five Point raises institutional capital into fund structures and deploys it by forming dedicated platform companies — WaterBridge Resources being the flagship — that own and operate physical midstream assets. Unlike a generalist PE fund, Five Point does not exit platforms on a typical three-to-five-year cycle; the portfolio companies are built to hold and operate contracted infrastructure over longer horizons.
Does Five Point invest in upstream oil and gas exploration?
No. The firm explicitly avoids upstream E&P risk. Its assets — pipelines, saltwater disposal wells, gathering systems, compression stations — earn fee-based or acreage-dedication revenue that does not depend on the producer's own well profitability. This is a deliberate structural choice that separates Five Point from energy private equity funds that drill.
What is WaterBridge Resources and how does it relate to Five Point Energy?
WaterBridge Resources is the primary portfolio company formed by Five Point Energy to consolidate produced-water midstream infrastructure, mainly in the Delaware Basin. Five Point acquires and integrates water disposal and recycling assets under the WaterBridge umbrella, creating a scaled, contracted network. Producers dedicate acreage to WaterBridge for water-handling services, generating stable cash flow for the platform.
How is Five Point Energy related to Riverstone Holdings?
Five Point Energy was formed in 2012 by David Capobianco with backing from Riverstone Holdings, the energy-focused investment firm where Capobianco had previously worked. Riverstone provided anchor capital for Five Point's formation, and the two firms have maintained a strategic relationship. Five Point operates independently with its own management team, investment committee, and institutional investor base.
What is Five Point Energy's geographic focus?
The firm concentrates primarily on the Permian Basin, which spans West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, the most active unconventional oil-producing region in the United States. Holdings extend into other resource plays including Oklahoma's SCOOP and STACK basins. This concentrated geographic approach allows the firm's platform companies to build contiguous, high-density midstream networks.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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