Dean Capital Group Enters the Bakken Shale

TORONTO, April 2, 2012 /CNW/ - Dean Capital Group, a private equity investment firm that focuses on the mid-stream and up-stream oil and natural gas sector, announced that it has acquired a large acreage position in the Steinbach Ranch, a part of the Bakken Shale formation in Lewis and Clark County, Montana.

Dean Capital Group plans to drill the initial 7 Bakken and Three Forks wells during the next 12 to 24 months, which will represent the start of a continuous, multi-rig development program for the company.

"Our significant acreage position in a prolific area in Lewis and Clark County gives us a considerable competitive advantage in the Bakken and Three Forks," said Geoffrey Berman, chief operating officer of Dean Capital Group. "We believe the Bakken and Three Forks represent a game-changing resource play for the United States and will be a major focus of Dean Capital Group's North American future exploration and production activities."

The Bakken formation encompasses some 25,000 square miles in North Dakota, Montana, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The Three Forks is made up of sand and porous rock directly below Montana's portion of the Bakken formation, where oil-producing rock is sandwiched between layers of shale about 2 miles underground.

A U.S. Geological Survey report found that North Dakota and Montana have an estimated 5 to 10 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil in the Bakken Formation and Three Forks combined.

About Dean Capital Group

Established in 1997, Dean Capital Group makes controlling or influential investments in the mid-stream and up-stream energy sector, in connection with various transaction structures. Dean Capital manages a series of projects dedicated to private equity financings for high-growth exploration and production, mid-stream, up-stream and oilfield service. Dean Capital espouses a proven, well-developed Global Partnership Strategy - a strategy rooted in combining investment professionals with industry experts.

[email protected] or Adam Frost at 800-393-0966 Ext-2140 www.deancapitalgroup.com