Former Centrica boss to head $5 bln energy investment fund

* Private equity funds Carlyle, CVC (Taiwan OTC: 4744.TWO - news) to back venture

* Neptune to make one or two deals - Laidlaw (Adds quotes, details)

By Ron Bousso

LONDON, June 9 (Reuters) - The former boss of British energy company Centrica Sam Laidlaw will head a new $5 billion fund backed by private equity firms Carlyle Group and CVC Capital Partners to buy oil and gas assets worldwide.

The London-based platform, Neptune Oil and Gas, will focus on investing in large-scale fields and companies in the North Sea, North Africa and Southeast Asia struggling in the wake of the sharp drop in oil prices over the past year.

Laidlaw, who stepped down as Centrica (LSE: CNA.L - news) 's chief executive late last year, said the fund aimed to complete one or two large deal totalling around $5 billion within the next two years to build a new exploration and production (E&P) company of 75,000-100,000 barrels per day, similar to the output of London-based Tullow Oil.

"Very few people have actually invested in scale because there haven't been any large-scale private equity funds really devoted to international E&P," Laidlaw told Reuters on Tuesday.

A raft of oil and gas assets have been put up for sale in recent months as energy firms ranging from majors Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) and Total to small exploration companies seek to boost balance sheets.

"The timing is good, a lot of the super majors are going through portfolio restructuring and national oil companies might be pulling back because of the lower oil price," Laidlaw said.

Global private equity firms in recent years have formed a number of partnerships led by high-profile industry executives in a bid to turn around assets by introducing efficiencies and cost cutting.

Siccar Point is headed by former Conoco and Centrica executive Jonathan Rogers, while Scotland-based Verus Petroleum is led by Alan Curren, a North Sea veteran with Wood Group and Lundin Petroleum (Other OTC: LNDNF - news) .

"We're expecting to deliver value through improving efficiencies, adding reserves, improving operating uptime and bringing in new technologies to ensure we can deliver a sensitive risk return on that basis," Laidlaw said.

"This isn't a bet on the oil price, because it could be with us for a while," he added, referring to recent lower prices.

Carlyle International Energy Partners (CIEP), focused on investments outside the United States, has been among the most active private equity funds in recent months.

It raised $2.5 billion earlier this year, giving it investment firepower of $10 billion.

Last month, Varo Energy, a joint venture between CIEP and the world's top commodities trading house Vitol, merged with Dutch-based storage and trading company Argos to form one of Europe's largest refining and trading businesses.

The private equity partnerships have not always succeeded. Fairfield, backed by investment fund Riverstone, decided to decommission its North Sea Dunlin Alpha platform after failing to make it profitable. (Editing by Jason Neely and Mark Potter)