Outfitter Energy Capital

Founders George McCormick and Curt Schaefer collectively approve all investments. McCormick, who led almost $1 billion in energy private capital transactions before forming Outfitter, and Schaefer, a former Goldman Sachs natural resources banker, have worked together since founding TPH Partners in 2008. The firm operates with a flat decision-making structure typical of small, partnership-oriented energy PE groups.

Outfitter targets the lower middle market where transactions are often bilateral negotiations rather than broad auctions. The firm leans on its principals’ 27-plus years of operator and banking relationships across U.S. onshore basins. Its senior advisor network — including the former CEO of Murphy Oil and the former CFO of Burlington Resources — provides additional origination reach into family-run and founder-owned energy businesses.

Outfitter’s founders were the founding members and managers of TPH Partners, the legacy private equity business of energy investment bank Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. When they formed Outfitter in December 2016, they retained management responsibility for the predecessor TPH funds. The firm describes itself as the successor platform that continues to manage those legacy vehicles alongside its own fund, which closed in September 2022.

No. The firm explicitly targets control investments in North American onshore upstream and midstream sectors. Its principals’ prior experience at BHP Billiton and Goldman Sachs involved global energy transactions, but Outfitter’s stated mandate is confined to the United States and, where appropriate, Canada.

Outfitter is structured to lead control investments and partner directly with operating management teams, not to co-invest passively alongside other general partners. Its marketing emphasizes being a value-added partner rather than a checkbook, suggesting that side-by-side LP co-investment vehicles are not a core part of its fundraising model.

The firm’s mandate excludes oilfield services, downstream refining, and renewable energy generation. Its focus is confined to onshore upstream exploration and production and related midstream infrastructure, where its team’s geological and commercial underwriting skills are most directly applicable.

Outfitter has not publicly disclosed its total headcount. Its website lists two managing partners, one senior associate, and three senior advisors. The firm operates a lean investment team structure consistent with a concentrated portfolio of control positions rather than a scaled multi-fund platform.