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Apollo Global Management is sprinting to raise a new fund to buy the debt of troubled energy companies, as the private equity giant seeks to capitalize on the recent collapse in oil prices.

The new vehicle, known as Energy Credit Opportunity Fund, is aiming to raise the capital on an unusually compressed timeline, according to a confidential email obtained by DealBook. Apollo is hoping to hold an initial closing for the fund in early March and then finish raising the capital by early April.

Apollo, a firm that specializes in buying distressed debt at bargain prices, sometimes investing vast sums in companies that others won’t touch, is hoping to use that approach to a greater degree in the oil and gas industry, which has come under intense pressure since oil prices peaked last June. But time is of the essence.

“We expect to have a very short time frame for fund-raising given the volatile market environment,” Apollo said in the email.

The shake-up in the energy sector has hurt a number of companies backed by private equity. The Carlyle Group, an Apollo rival based in Washington, reported that a group of its energy funds fell 17 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.

But private equity firms are also trying to find opportunities in the chaos. The Blackstone Group, the industry’s biggest player, has been raising a new energy fund that is expected to exceed $4 billion in assets. Stephen A. Schwarzman, Blackstone’s chief, said in December that energy was “one of the best opportunities we’ve had in many, many years.”

Apollo has been busy investing through an $18.4 billion private equity fund that it finished raising last year. But the new credit fund is intended to provide a specialized focus on debt.

To court investors, Apollo plans to hold a due diligence session on Monday at its Manhattan headquarters to talk about the oil price decline and discuss potential investment opportunities, the email said. The three-and-a-half-hour session, including a breakfast, will feature presentations by James Zelter, the managing director of Apollo’s credit business.

The dollar amount Apollo is hoping to raise for the fund could not immediately be determined.

Charles Zehren, an Apollo spokesman, declined to comment.