LONDON – The Blackstone Group announced a partnership on Tuesday with the oil producer LLOG Exploration to invest a combined $1.2 billion in offshore energy assets in the Gulf of Mexico.

The deal is the latest in a flurry of announcements by private equity firms, which are looking to capitalize on the booming energy sector in the United States.

Under the terms of the deal, Blackstone will form a strategic partnership with LLOG Exploration, an energy company based in Covington, La., with assets across the Gulf of Mexico.

The two companies will initially invest $1.2 billion in the partnership to develop LLOG Exploration’s existing energy assets in the region, including a number of recent deepwater discoveries. The amount of each company’s investment was not disclosed.

Blackstone and LLOG Exploration said the money may also be used to expand the energy company’s resources in the Gulf of Mexico, including through acquisitions.

“We are very excited to form this long-term partnership with LLOG to accelerate the growth and development of LLOG’s attractive and extensive portfolio of discoveries and prospects,” Angelo Acconcia, managing director of Blackstone Energy Partners’ oil and natural gas unit, said in a statement.

The privately owned LLOG Exploration is one of the largest oil and natural gas companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico.

In recent years, several private equity firms have invested in the American energy sector as new drilling technologies like hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, have opened up new areas for exploration.

Earlier this year, a consortium led by Apollo Global Management bought the exploration and production business of the El Paso Corporation for about $7.2 billion. The deal was part of concessions that Kinder Morgan agreed to as part of its $21.1 billion deal to buy the El Paso Corporation.

Article source: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/blackstone-enters-1-2-billion-energy-partnership/?partner=rss&emc=rss