Riverstone Holdings LLC and its partners announced Friday that they will invest up to $300 million in Eagle Energy Exploration LLC, funding that will help the latter pursue oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) opportunities in the Midcontinent.

According to Riverstone, up to $200 million will be invested by Riverstone Global Energy and Power Fund V, while an additional stake of up to $100 million will be invested by Riverstone Energy Limited.

The transaction is the second partnership between Eagle and Riverstone. The companies previously developed positions in the Mississippian Lime oil play in Kansas and Oklahoma, and the Hunton play in Oklahoma. Those assets were sold to Midstates Petroleum Co. in October 2012 for $650 million (see Shale Daily, Aug. 14, 2012).

“We are excited to be partnering again with Riverstone and look forward to building another significant Midcontinent based energy company with them,” said Eagle CEO Steve Antry. “We plan to continue to be a major player in the Oklahoma oil and gas community.”

In a written statement, Riverstone co-founders Pierre Lapeyre and David Leuschen concurred.

“Our significant equity commitment to Eagle reflects our confidence in [Antry] and the team he has assembled, as well as the opportunity set we see in the Midcontinent region,” Lapeyre and Leuschen said. “We achieved an outstanding result in our previous venture and are excited to be working together again with a similar focus.”