Tall Oak Midstream

About Tall Oak Midstream

Tall Oak Midstream operates as a full-suite midstream services provider for natural gas and oil producers primarily in Oklahoma's energy basins. The company was established in early 2014 by a team of experienced energy executives: Ryan Lewellyn as CEO, Max Myers as CFO, Carlos Evans as CCO, and Lindel Larison as COO. The founding team combined diverse backgrounds in the midstream and upstream sectors to create a customer-focused service company.

The company's business model is centered on providing natural gas gathering, compression, treating, and processing, as well as crude oil gathering and transportation. It generates revenue through long-term, primarily fee-based contracts with producers for these services, often underpinned by substantial acreage dedications. This structure provides a stable revenue stream linked to the volume of resources handled. The company's clients are oil and gas exploration and production companies operating in key Oklahoma formations like the STACK, Arkoma, and CNOW plays.

The history of Tall Oak is marked by a series of successful ventures, each designated with a sequential number (I, II, III). The initial company, Tall Oak I, developed a significant asset footprint that was sold to EnLink Midstream for $1.55 billion in a deal announced in late 2015 and closed in January 2016. Subsequently, the management team formed Tall Oak II and Tall Oak III with backing from private equity firm EnCap Flatrock Midstream. In 2021, private equity firm Tailwater Capital acquired Tall Oak II and III from EnCap Flatrock, merging Tall Oak III with its existing portfolio company, Connect Midstream, under the operational leadership of the Tall Oak team. Most recently, in late 2024, Summit Midstream Corporation acquired Tall Oak Midstream III from Tailwater Capital for approximately $450 million in a cash-and-stock transaction.

Tall Oak's primary service is managing the critical infrastructure that transports natural gas and crude oil from the wellhead to major pipelines and processing facilities. Its assets have included extensive pipeline networks—over 750 miles for Tall Oak II and over 400 miles for Tall Oak III—and multiple natural gas processing plants. For instance, the Tall Oak III system features two processing plants each with a capacity of 220 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d), along with significant compression horsepower. These systems offer producers in the Arkoma and STACK plays access to premium downstream markets, including the growing demand from the Gulf Coast.