Antero Resources

Antero Resources | Energy Companies

Antero Shops for $1.25B Cash from IOUs, Wants to Pay Down Old Debt
March 4, 2015March 4, 2015

Seems that everyone (upstream and midstream) companies is in the market looking for cash in return for IOUs, otherwise known as “unsecured notes”. Today we reported that two midstream companies, MarkWest and Williams, have successfully landed $650 million and $3 billion in cash from IOUs, respectively. Now it’s Marcellus/Utica driller Antero Resources’ turn. Yesterday Antero issued two press releases announcing what appears to be two different tranches of notes–one from $750 million and the other for $500 million. Will cash-for-IOUs lightening strike a third time?…
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Antero Resources | Energy Companies

Antero Resources: 2014 a Banner Year, but Cutting 2015 Budget 36%
February 26, 2015February 26, 2015

Yes, it’s earning season and for the next several weeks there will be a parade of companies releasing their 2014 results and looking forward to 2015. Antero Resources, one of the largest drillers in the Marcellus/Utica, is among them. Yesterday Antero released their 2014 numbers and commented on 2015. Among Anteor’s good news: Proved reserves jumped an eye-popping 66% in just one year–to 12.7 trillion cubic feet equivalent (Tcfe). The company’s 3P reserves (proved, probably and possible) jumped to a staggering 40.7 Tcfe. If you look at potential drilling locations for Antero’s 3P leased acreage, they could theoretically drill in 5,331 different locations (70% of those locations being in liquids-rich areas). Daily average production was up a huge 87% year over year. Net revenue doubled for the year. On the down side, Antero is cutting their 2015 budget by 36%, but that’s not a surprise. Below is yesterday’s update…
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Antero Resources | Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | EV Energy Partners | EXCO Resources | Halcon Resources | Industrywide Issues | Research | Rex Energy | Warren Resources

19 Oil/Gas Companies on “Death List” – 8 are in Marcellus/Utica
February 23, 2015June 23, 2015

David Fessler is energy and infrastructure strategist (i.e. stock analyst/researcher) with The Oxford Club–a publisher based in Baltimore, Maryland that publishes the Oxford Resource Explorer, among other financial publications. Fessler spends his days immersed in the energy industry and in the stocks of companies in that industry. Fessler and The Oxford Club have produced a special report called “The Oil Company Death List” which is a list of 19 publicly-traded oil and gas companies that, according to a formula worked out by Fessler, will “die soon.” That is, they’ll go bankrupt if they don’t sell themselves or otherwise sell off major assets. Why? They’re “swimming in debt” and way over leveraged with “ugly balance sheets.” Fessler’s simple formula is all about a company’s debt ratio. When a company’s debts reach 4 times or higher its earnings (EBITDA), that’s a huge red flag. Below we have the list of 19 on the “death list” along with a copy of Fessler’s full report (describing his methodology). The interesting/troubling aspect is that 8 of the 19 are Marcellus/Utica operators–one of which is #1 for highest debt-to-earnings ratios. Some companies in the list surprised us–others did not. Is your favorite Marcellus/Utica driller in the list?…
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Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Reserves (Proved and Unproved)

Antero Proved Reserves Rocket Up 66%; Dev Costs Just $0.61/Mcf
January 29, 2015January 29, 2015

Antero Resources, one of the largest drillers in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region, issued a press release yesterday to crow about some important numbers. The first important number is 66%–as in Antero’s “proved reserves” of natural gas (and liquids and oil) jumped 66% in 2014–to a mind-blowing total of 12.7 trillion cubic feet equivalent (Tcfe). Proved reserves means using existing technology and under these economic conditions, Antero can reasonably, with very high confidence, extract at least 12.7 Tcfe. Astonishing. Another number to crow about: $0.61, as in it costs the company only 61 cents per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) to find and develop/extract that gas. Of course what’s missing in that number is the midstream component–processing and pipelining it to market. But still, it shows that these large companies can still make money even in a low cost environment, which is reassuring…
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Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

Antero Resources Slashes 2015 CapEx Budget 41%, Reduces Rig Count
January 22, 2015January 22, 2015

Earlier this month, Antero Resources, one of the largest leaseholders and drillers in the Marcellus/Utica, announced they are laying off 250 landmen in WV, OH and PA because of low oil and gas prices (see Antero Resources Lays Off 250 Landmen, Blames Low Oil Prices). Seems it was an omen. On Tuesday, the company released details of their 2015 capital budget–and it’s not pretty. Antero is slashing their capital expenditure budget in the Marcellus/Utica by 41% over what they spent in 2014–$1.8 billion in 2015 compared to $3.05 billion in 2014. Ouch. They’ll operate an average of 14 drilling rigs in 2015 compared to the average of 21 they were operating by the end of last year. Ouch. They predict they will complete 130 Marcellus & Utica wells this year, down from 179 completed last year. Ouch. About the only bright spot is that production is predicted to increase, from an average of 1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2014 to 1.4 Bcf/d in 2015. Why the big cuts? Yes because of the low commodity price for natural gas, but when you dig, you find the price for natgas in the northeast is lower than other areas of the country because of the lack of pipelines…
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Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

Kinder Morgan NE Projects Update – Filing with FERC for Broad Run
January 22, 2015January 22, 2015

Kinder Morgan, the largest midstream company in the U.S., issued a press release yesterday nominally to say they’ve raised the quarterly dividend by 10% or $0.45 per share because they had a great year last year, despite the low price of oil and the gyrations in the market. But as part of that update, if you put on your hip boots on and wade through all of the tiny print, you find some interesting nuggets and updates. For example, we get an important update on their Northeast Energy Direct project–an extension of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline through Massachusetts and New Hampshire. We also learn that Kinder is ready to file with FERC–this month–to move forward with the Broad Run Flexibility and Broad Run Expansion projects that will flow Marcellus and Utica Shale gas from West Virginia to delivery points in Mississippi and Louisiana. All (100%) of the capacity for the the Broad Run pipelines is already spoken for, by Antero Resources…
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Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Monroe County | Ohio | Utica Shale

Antero Resources 4Q14: Just Paid $20K/Acre for More Utica Leases
January 16, 2015January 16, 2015

Antero Resources, one of the biggest Marcellus/Utica Shale drillers, issued their fourth quarter operations and hedging report on Wednesday. The report includes a lot of 2014 summary information. It’s an important update with a lot of juicy information contained in it. Perhaps the juiciest is buried near the end: Antero closed on a deal to pick up another 12,000 Utica acres, most of it located in Monroe County, OH, from an undisclosed third party. Antero paid an eye-popping $240 million–or $20,000 per acre! The land does have five producing shale wells and an 8-mile pipeline. Figure the wells are worth $8M each (the cost to drill them) and the pipeline is worth $1M per mile, another $8M (this is very rough, back of the envelope stuff). Deducting that from the price you still get $16,000 per acre for the undeveloped land. Yikes. Here’s the other things that caught our eye about the update…
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Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Antero Resources Lays Off 250 Landmen, Blames Low Oil Prices
January 7, 2015January 7, 2015

Antero Resources said on Monday it will lay off more than 250 contract land brokers operating in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The layoffs will not affect any Antero employees–only contract workers (landmen and others) who work to get leases signed, sealed and delivered for future drilling. Antero blames the low price of oil, which causes the price they get for their Marcellus/Utica natural gas liquids to be low, which means they’ll stick to drilling on the half million plus acres they already have under lease…
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Antero Resources | CNG/LNG | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | WGL Holdings

WGL & Antero to Provide Marcellus Gas to India via Cove Point
December 5, 2014December 5, 2014

An exciting announcement yesterday. You know that Dominion was given the green light in September and is now building an LNG (liquefied natural gas) export facility in Cove Point, Maryland (see Dominion Gets Final Fed Approval to Build Cove Point LNG Plant). Dominion has already lined up Japan and India to purchase all of the LNG the plant can produce. The question has remained, who will ship natural gas to the plant, and where will that gas come from? Stands to reason most of it (perhaps all of it) will come from the Marcellus and Utica. We previously told you that Cabot Oil & Gas is one of the suppliers–supplying 0.35 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of gas to Japan when the plant is up and operating (see Cabot Signs Deal to Export Gas via Cove Point, MD). We now know of the first official supplier for India: WGL Midstream, using Marcellus gas supplied by Antero Resources…
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Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Noble Energy | Tyler County | West Virginia

Record High Bid to Drill Under Bambi’s Home in Tyler County, WV
November 25, 2014November 25, 2014

Looks like drilling and fracking adjacent to, and underneath, the Ohio River isn’t the only state-owned asset West Virginia has in mind to raise revenue (see Gastar Wins Lease to Drill Under Ohio River in WV). Last Friday, WV opened bids that will allow drilling under the 518-acre Conaway Run Wildlife Management Area in Tyler County, WV. Yes, those heartless monsters want to allow drilling and fracking under Bambi’s home–can you believe it?! The bids received will make your eyes pop out–some of the highest (perhaps THE highest) amounts offered in a signing bonus to date…
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American Energy Partners | Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Ohio | Statewide OH

Muskingum Watershed District Sells only 136M Gal of Water So Far
November 13, 2014November 13, 2014

The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD), organized in 1933 to reduce the effects of flooding and conserve water for beneficial public uses, oversees 16 dams and reservoirs across 22 counties in Ohio, covering 20% of the state. It is a massive area under the oversight and control of the MWCD. We’ve previously covered their deals with Antero Resources to lease District property for drilling. We’ve also covered District deals to sell water to Antero and other shale drillers (see Muskingum Watershed Votes to Sell 209M Gals of Water for Fracking). Although the district has voted to sell 209 million gallons of water, so far in 2014 they’ve only sold 136 million gallons–or the amount of water used in four days by the city of Akron, OH. According to officials with the MWCD, water sales have had a “negligible” impact on the reservoirs–lowering the several reservoirs used by less than 3/4 of an inch. MWCD lowers reservoirs more than that each year for winter anyway–so actually there’s been no impact, especially since much of the water sold flows through pipelines instead of tanker trucks…
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Antero Resources | Energy Companies

Antero Midstream IPO Hauls in $1B, Stock Trading High
November 7, 2014November 7, 2014

Amidst the flurry of news about third quarter updates, we almost overlooked one important piece of news about Marcellus/Utica driller Antero Resources. As you may recall, Antero floated an initial public offering (IPO) of stock last year hoping to raise $1.4 billion. They got $1.57 billion (see Antero’s IPO Fetches $1.57B, Company Valued at $11B!). Just a few weeks ago Antero announced they were spinning off their midstream operation into its own company and floating an IPO for that new entity–hoping to raise nearly $1 billion more (see Antero Resources Launches Midstream IPO, Seeks $1B+). We’re happy to report–mission accomplished. Antero reported earlier this week they sold 40 million “units” (think shares of stock) for $25 each, which is higher than they were hoping–bringing in $1 billion…
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Antero Resources | Energy Companies

Antero 3Q14: Production Passes 1 Bcf/d; Adds 32K Acres in NE
November 6, 2014November 6, 2014

Antero Resources, one of the largest acreage holders and biggest drillers in the Marcellus/Utica region, issued their third quarter 2014 update yesterday. During 3Q14 the company added another 32,000 net acres in the core of the Marcellus and Utica Shale plays resulting in 520,000 total net acres in the Appalachian Basin. The company’s net daily gas equivalent production averaged 1.08 billion cubic feet per day, a 91% increase over the prior year quarter. They also floated an IPO for their midstream division hauling in a hefty $1 billion more in revenue…
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Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Processing Plants

Antero Resources Launches Midstream IPO, Seeks $1B+
October 28, 2014October 28, 2014

Can Antero Resources do it again? A little over a year ago, in October 2013, Antero, one of the biggest players in the Marcellus/Utica Shale, floated an initial public offering (IPO) for the company, called “taking it public” because shares of stock will be owned and traded on a public stock exchange–and raised an incredible $1.57 billion (see Antero’s IPO Fetches $1.57B, Company Valued at $11B!). Antero is hoping lightening will strike twice, and indeed it may. Yesterday the company announced that it will spin off its midstream division into a new wholly-owned subsidiary, under a master limited partnership (MLP) structure, and offer “units” (think shares of stock) that will be publicly traded. The company plans to offer more than 43 million units to investors and if it gets the target $19-$21 per unit, the grand total will once again exceed $1 billion of new investment…
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Accidents | Antero Resources | Doddridge County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | West Virginia

Antero Gets 30 Day Extension to Fix Problems @ Doddridge Well Pad
October 27, 2014October 27, 2014

The West Virginia Dept. of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) has granted Antero Resources another 30 days to get problems under control at a well pad in Doddridge County, WV. You may recall Antero was drilling a new well and the borehole penetrated an existing well at the pad, creating problems with local water wells (see Antero Hits Producing Well Drilling New Well, Methane in Local Water). A “cease operations” order was issued on Sept. 26 and that order has been extended another month while Antero awaits test results from local water wells that were affected by the accident…
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Antero Resources | Energy Companies

Antero Resources’ Line of Credit Upped $1B to $4B
October 20, 2014October 20, 2014

One of the largest Marcellus/Utica drillers is Antero Resources. Last week we reported on Antero’s third quarter update in which they tout that by using shorter stage lengths (SSLs) when fracking wells has resulted in better producing wells (see Antero Resources 3Q14: Shorter Stage Lengths Yield 20-30% More Gas). Looks like Antero’s bankers liked that news too. They’ve just extended Antero’s credit line an extra $1 BILLION!…
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