Aug 14 (Reuters) - The private equity owner of Maverick

Natural Resources is exploring a potential sale that could value

the U.S. oil and gas producer at nearly $3 billion, including

debt, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Houston-based exploration and production company, which

is owned by energy-focused investment firm EIG, is working with

investment bankers at Jefferies on the sale process, the

sources said, requesting anonymity as the discussions are

confidential.

Potential buyers, such as oil & gas producers and other

investment firms, would have to take on nearly $800 million of

Maverick's debt, including the outstanding amount on an

asset-backed securitization tied to some of its assets, the

sources said, cautioning that no deal is guaranteed.

An asset-backed securitization is a financing structure

where some assets of a company are used as collateral for the

issuance of notes or bonds sold to investors. In the case of

energy operators such as Maverick, the collateral is revenue

tied to its future oil and gas production.

Such financing structures have been used by private oil and

gas companies to fund operations amid a pullback in lending by

some banks concerned by the industry's environmental impact.

A potential deal for Maverick comes as a dealmaking boom

sweeps through the U.S. shale industry. Large energy producers

have been willing to splurge on deals to gain scale and snap up

prime drilling sites, thus creating exit opportunities for

buyout firms holding oil and gas assets.

EIG and Maverick did not respond to comment requests.

Jefferies declined comment.

Maverick was formed in 2018 following the Chapter 11 of

its predecessor firm Breitburn Energy Partners. Since emerging

from bankruptcy, it has grown through acquisitions and struck

deals to acquire FourPoint Energy and some of ConocoPhillips' ( COP )

assets.

Maverick primarily operates in the Anadarko basin of

Oklahoma and a sub-section of the Permian basin in New Mexico

known as the Northwest Shelf.

The company produces roughly 60,000 barrels of oil

equivalent per day, about two-thirds of which are natural gas

and natural gas liquids, from all its combined operations, one

of the sources said.