Consortium Forms Icon NGS, LLC to Develop and Acquire Natural Gas Storage Facilities

HOUSTON, TX--(Marketwire - November 4, 2009) - Quantum NGS Holding, LLC announced today that together with Dr. Larry W. Bickle, William A. ("Andy") Lang and Mark Fullerton, it has formed Icon NGS, LLC, a natural gas storage focused company. Based in Houston, TX, Icon NGS will develop and/or acquire high-deliverability, multi-cycle natural gas storage capacity in the United States.

Icon NGS is led by Lang, Fullerton and Bickle, who have collectively developed, operated, financed or acquired more than 200 billion cubic feet of working natural gas storage capacity. This experience includes the successful development and operation of numerous natural gas storage projects, including Bobcat, Egan, Kirby Hills, Lodi, Moss Bluff, NorTex and Tioga Gas Storage.

"Given the strong industry fundamentals we see today coupled with the financial disruption the natural gas storage development market has recently experienced, we are very excited about the prospects for a new well-capitalized, growth-oriented storage development company," said Lang, President and Chief Executive Officer of Icon NGS. "With the quality of the management team we have assembled and the backing of a strong investment partner like Quantum NGS Holding, we believe Icon NGS will have tremendous access to attractive development and acquisition opportunities."

Icon NGS will initially focus on identifying strategic supply and market locations where it can develop greenfield storage facilities from concept stage to commercial operations. The company will also evaluate the acquisition of in-process greenfield storage development projects and operating storage facilities that have significant expansion potential or can be operationally improved by the Icon NGS team.

"We are pleased to once again be partnering with Dr. Bickle to form a natural gas storage development company," said Scott Soler, Managing Director at Quantum Energy Partners. "This management team has a long history of successfully working together in the midstream space and we are encouraged by the many opportunities they have already identified to improve the operational efficiency of the U.S. natural gas pipeline grid."

Andy Lang, President and Chief Executive Officer of Icon NGS, is an accomplished executive with more than 25 years of experience in the midstream industry. Most recently, Lang was President of Somerset Gas Transmission Company, LLC, a privately held company which owns and operates an intrastate natural gas pipeline in Ohio and a natural gas gathering system in Pennsylvania. Prior to joining Somerset, Lang had served as CEO of NiSource Inc. subsidiary TPC Corporation and CEO of Vastar Gas Marketing Inc.

Mark Fullerton, Chief Operating Officer of Icon NGS, is a natural gas storage development and construction expert with over 19 years of industry experience. Previously, Fullerton served as Senior Vice President of Lodi Gas Storage. Prior to joining Lodi, Fullerton served as an independent gas storage consultant for various development projects.

Dr. Larry Bickle, Chairman of Quantum NGS Holdings and of Icon NGS, is a highly respected natural gas storage developer who has successfully developed numerous natural gas storage projects. Prior to working with Quantum, Bickle was a co-founder of Haddington Ventures, LLC, a private equity fund that invests in midstream energy companies and assets. Previously, Bickle was Co-founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Tejas Power Corporation.

Quantum NGS Holdings is a partnership between Quantum Energy Partners, a leading investment firm specializing in the energy industry with over $5.7 billion in capital under management, and Dr. Larry Bickle. Icon NGS represents Quantum NGS' second subsidiary natural gas storage development company following its formation of Merchant Energy Partners in 2008.

For more information on Icon NGS, please contact Andy Lang at (713) 403-6464.

Contact Information: Media Contact: Beverly Jernigan 713-494-1733