Austin, TX, Aug. 23, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Westlake Securities, LLC is pleased to announce its third annual energy investment conference to be held in Austin, TX in October, attracting representatives from large funds into the city.
New Frontiers in Energy Conference 2013, at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center on October 7 and 8, will feature 40 presenting companies and attract around 400 delegates.
Keynote speakers this year are Britt Harris, Chief Investment Officer at the Teacher Retirement System of Texas and Barry Smitherman, Chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission.
Westlake Securities is Austin's largest full service, middle market investment bank and has run an energy investment conference in the city for the past two years.
Westlake Securities Managing Director Randy Finch said the purpose of the invite-only conference was to bring energy executives, institutional fund managers, private equity and other deal professionals in the small to mid cap sector together for investment, networking and to update themselves with new developments in the oil and gas sector.
"Energy continues to be one of the brightest spots in the U.S. economy", said Mr. Finch. "We are currently witnessing a renaissance in the E&P industry with the exploration and development of the shale plays. The benefits in terms of job creation, energy independence and national security are enormous."
"Austin is strategically located between significant oil and gas fields, and is a cultural treasure in the state of Texas. It is ideal for an energy conference and a good opportunity to showcase our city to East and West Coast investors who may not have been here before," Mr. Finch said.
"Westlake Securities is looking forward to putting on its third conference and is privileged to have Grant Thornton and Intralinks as our key sponsors."
The format is three concurrent tracks - energy services, exploration and production, and alternative uses of natural gas - interspersed with keynotes, panels and networking opportunities.
The 40 public and private presenting companies will include:
· American Power Group (APGI)
· Applied Cryo Technologies
· Applied Natural Gas Fuels
· Baker Hughes (BHI)
· Callon Petroleum Company (CPE)
· Cheniere Energy (LNG)
· Clean Energy Fuels (CLNE)
· Deep Down, Inc (DPDW)
· Drillinginfo
· Dune Energy (DUNR)
· ENSERVCO (ENSV)
· EPL Oil & Gas (EPL)
· Floridian Natural Gas Storage
· Forestar (FOR)
· Geospace Technologies (GEOS)
· Global Geophysical Services (GGS)
· Green Energy Oilfield Services
· Halcón Resources (HK)
· Hercules Offshore (HERO)
· InterOil Corporation (IOC)
· ION Geophysical (IO)
· KiOR (KIOR)
· Leopard Energy
· Lucas Energy (LEI)
· Miller Energy Resources (MILL)
· Mitcham Industries (MIND)
· Prometheus Energy
· RigNet (RNET)
· Senscient
· Stabilis Energy LNG
· Surefire Industries
· Taylor Wharton International
· Texas American Resources
· TGC Industries (TGE)
· Three Rivers Operating Company
· VAALCO Energy (EGY)
· Westport Innovations (WPRT)
· Wireless Seismic
"Invited institutional investors represent a healthy mix of generalist and energy-focused analysts/portfolio managers from pension funds, mutual funds, hedge funds and private equity groups," Mr. Finch said.
"Investor one-on-ones are always key for attendees and we anticipate heavy demand for those again this year."
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About Westlake Securities
Westlake Securities is a privately-held corporation that provides investment banking, capital markets and financial advisory services to both privately held and publicly traded companies and to institutional investors. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with offices in Houston, Lafayette, Louisiana, and North Palm Beach, Florida, Westlake provides M&A advisory services, private placements of debt, equity and limited partnership interests, institutional sales and trading and financial advisory services to clients throughout the U.S. Westlake Securities is a member of FINRA and SIPC.