On January 30, 2014, Riverstone Holdings-backed Liberty Resources II LLC, a Denver-based oil and gas company, agreed to buy oil and gas assets in North Dakota's Williston Basin for US$455 million.

The properties comprise approximately 53,000 net acres in Williams, Divide, Burke and McKenzie counties and over 4,000 boe/day of production from the Bakken and Three Forks formations, which Liberty II will continue to target as it furthers the development of the acquired properties.

Chris Wright, Chairman and CEO of Liberty II, stated:

Over the past two years, Liberty's unique completions approach consistently demonstrated the highest average production rates of any operator in the Bakken formation.  The announced acquisition provides us with exposure to highly attractive areas of the basin where we have not previously operated and where we hope to achieve similar operational success as that achieved during our team's prior venture.

Riverstone and Liberty II management previously partnered successfully in Liberty Resources LLC. Through thirteen discrete proprietary acquisitions Liberty established a land position of approximately 43,000 net acres and drilled and completed 29 operated wells in the Bakken and Three Forks formations of North Dakota, ultimately achieving over 6,000 boe/day of net production.

Liberty realized industry-leading recovery rates in the Bakken due to its application of unique and proprietary completion designs. The majority of Liberty's assets were sold to Kodiak Oil & Gas in July 2013 for approximately US$680 million.