EOG Resources CEO Mark Papa Private-equity firms are doubling down on energy, despite heavy damage from their last adventure in the oil patch. These firms’ stakes in a dozen publicly traded energy exploration-and-production companies have lost more than $18 billion in value since last summer, when oil prices began their slide from more than $100 a barrel. Yet with U.S. crude prices down to about $46.75 a barrel at Thursday’s close, private-equity firms are looking for opportunities to spend the hundreds of billions of dollars they have amassed to make new energy investments. They are hoping the commodity-price crash will open up opportunities to pick up assets and entire companies on the cheap. “This is a temporary situation, and investments that are made in this low-price environment are going to look pretty good two or three years out,” said Mark Papa, who joined energy-focused firm Riverstone Holdings LLC earlier […]