About Us
First Keystone Energy Group is an entrepreneurial financially-oriented organization focused on oil and gas. Our affiliate, First Keystone Property Group, specializes in Texas commercial real estate. The President is Jeffrey P. Price, a seasoned investor. Our primary business is managing passive partnerships that invest in upstream oil & gas opportunities and commercial real estate in Texas. We will explain more about the Funds in a moment, but those experiences led Mr. Price, whose training is in financial markets, to become adept at hedging oil and gas futures.
Mr. Price received an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in 1972. He has been involved in investing in Texas real estate since the early 90's. But he also has had long-standing contacts in the oil and gas industry situated in West Texas with whom he has been personally investing for years - taking small interests in wildcat exploration deals - and has been experiencing considerable success. This practice has been expanded into an institutionalized vehicle, the family of FIRST KEYSTONE ENERGY FUNDS.
In essence, these entities are "private mutual funds" that enable investors to participate with seasoned operators. The oil and gas industry is ripe for such a pool - it evidences robust deal flow and attractive risk-reward economics. First Keystone's basic objective is very simple - assemble a portfolio of completely independent projects. (It takes about two years to get each Fund's money invested.) Such diversification - by taking small pieces of many different exploratory projects - enables an investor to smooth out the high odds of a loss that are inherent in any single project. (It is like a "fund of funds".)
Our initial Fund was started in September 2005 and based on initial indications is likely to be profitable. A clone of it ("Fund - II") was rolled out in early 2007. Fund - III is two years old. Total capital under management is in excess of $15 million. (For more information our Funds, please go to www.first-keystone.com.)
Our hedging services evolved from our need to proactively manage our own revenue streams in a pricing environment characterized by extremely soft spot prices. First Keystone set up full-fledged accounts with British Petroleum that have enabled us to take long and short positions in puts, call, and swaps. We actively manage our portfolio - meaning we constantly measure the "health" of our positions and consider modifications. However, it is our base objective to reduce our revenue-related risks, and thus, active "trading" of these instruments is not a part of our practice.
In addition, First Keystone is a co-general partner in five commercial real estate partnerships in the Houston Metro Area. First Keystone works with Vista Equities Group as our partner and operator. We have successfully exited eleven previous projects.
First Keystone is based in Wycombe, Pennsylvania (in the Philadelphia Metro area) - its core operating relationships are centered in West Texas.