Antero Resources 1Q14: Production Up 105%, Earnings Down $95M
Antero Resources released their first quarter 2014 update yesterday. Antero is a big and important driller in both the Marcellus and Utica Shale region–particularly in the wet gas areas of West Virginia and eastern Ohio. Antero reports daily gas equivalent (converting liquids to gas) production reached an average 786 million cubic feet equivalent per day (MMcfe/d) in the first quarter, up a healthy 105% from first quarter in 2013. They’re also producing more liquids than ever–16,332 barrrels per day, a 583% increase over 1Q13. On the down side, they report a net loss from operations of $95 million for 1Q14–mostly due to hedging in the financial markets. If you took away the hedging losses, net income would have been up $88 million, or 225% over 1Q13.
In the update below Antero talks about their recent lease acquisition of Piedmont Lake in Ohio’s Utica Shale, and about the recent announcement (from two days ago) that they have committed to another 200 million cubic feet per day of processing capacity at MarkWest’s Sherwood facility in Doddridge County, WV. Here’s the update…
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All’s we can say is “WOW!” Last Friday the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) signed another (new) lease with Antero Resources to lease more than 6,300 acres in and around Piedmont Lake, in Guernsey, Harrison and Belmont counties in Ohio. The land is in prime Utica Shale territory and Antero must have wanted it bad, because they paid a $15,000 per acre signing bonus. Plus 20% in royalties for anything produced from the land. That is, by far, the largest bonus payment we have ever heard of in the Marcellus and Utica region.
The ethane cracker plant planned for Parkersburg (Wood County), WV, to be built by Odebrecht and operated by Odebrecht subsidiary Braskem America, took another giant step closer to reality yesterday. Powerhouse Marcellus/Utica driller Antero Resources announced they will provide 30,000 barrels per day of ethane for the proposed new plant when/if it gets built. That’s half of what the plant needs to operate. Antero Resources CEO Paul Rady was joined by Odebrecht VP of business development David Peebles on stage at the Marcellus to Manufacturing Ethane Development Conference at the Charleston Civic Center for the big announcement yesterday. WV Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin took to the stage to crow about the deal too (he’s earned the right).
Antero Resources continues to impress. The company is focused on drilling in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region–and it’s one of the biggest drillers with the most land under lease (450,000 acres between the two plays). No wonder the company’s IPO last October was such a hit (see