Antero CEO Explains Decision to “Double Down” on West Virginia
Two weeks ago, MDN brought you the news that Antero Resources, the country’s fifth-largest natural gas producer and largest producer in West Virginia, had cut a deal to buy WV driller and midstreamer HG Energy II for a combined (upstream & midstream) $3.9 billion (see Antero Resources Buys HG Energy II in Deal Worth $3.9 Billion). The deal will add a massive 385,000 net acres to Antero’s existing ~475,000 net core Marcellus acreage position, bringing with it another 850 MMcfe/d in production. The same day we told you that Antero was selling its considerable Ohio Utica assets for $1.2 billion (see NOG & INR Partner to Buy Antero Resources’ Ohio Utica for $1.2B). In an unusual move, Antero CEO Michael Kennedy published a newspaper column to explain the company’s decision to “double down” on WV. Read More “Antero CEO Explains Decision to “Double Down” on West Virginia”
The bidding war is heating up for those interested in buying Ascent Resources, a privately held company focused 100% on the Ohio Utica Shale. Ascent is Ohio’s largest natural gas producer and the 8th largest natural gas producer in the U.S. Kimmeridge Energy, a private investment firm focused on the energy sector (sometimes called an “activist investor” and/or corporate raider), has put an offer on the table to buy out and take over Ascent: $6 billion. This is the first hard number we’ve seen since the whole bidding war began last week. 
In October, National Fuel Gas Company, a large utility company headquartered in the Buffalo, NY area with both upstream and midstream subsidiaries (Seneca Resources and NFG Midstream), announced a deal with CenterPoint Energy to acquire CenterPoint’s Ohio natural gas utility business (CNP Ohio) for $2.62 billion (see 
Earlier this year, Houston-based EOG Resources acquired Encino Acquisition Partners for $5.6 billion, establishing the Utica Shale as a “third foundational play” alongside its Permian and Eagle Ford assets (see 
Tailwater Capital LLC, an energy and infrastructure private equity firm based in Dallas, Texas, yesterday announced it has closed on the acquisition of a majority interest in Central Midstream Partners, LLC (originally established as Central Crude). Central Midstream provides liquids transportation, storage, and terminal services to support demand-pull customers across the Gulf Coast and in the Utica region. We have to confess we had not heard about nor written about Central Midstream before this announcement. 
We’ll open this post with this statement: There are no active rumors (that we are aware of) that Permian/Anadarko/Marcellus driller Coterra Energy is considering a merger with Permian/Anadarko/Monteny driller Ovintiv (formerly Encana). We did spot a post by Rystad Energy analysts who theorize that both companies (peers) would make a great combined company. The comments are part of a post titled “US shale braces for next consolidation wave as smaller players seek scale.” Rystad’s theory is that we will soon see smaller independents begin to merge to defend against the recent merger mania by larger companies, including ExxonMobil, Diamondback, Occidental, and ConocoPhillips. 
The second round of big news coming from Antero Resources today is the sale of the company’s Utica Shale assets. We told you in November that Antero, the largest Marcellus/Utica (M-U) driller in West Virginia, officially began to market its Ohio Utica assets for sale (see 
In January, Constellation Energy (a huge power-generating company) announced a deal to buy out and merge with Calpine (another huge power-generating company). Calpine owns 79 energy facilities across the country, generating some 27 gigawatts (GW) of electricity, with a significant number located in the eastern U.S. Many of Calpine’s facilities use natural gas to produce electricity. The two companies combined would own almost 60 GW of nuclear, natural gas, geothermal, hydro, wind, solar, cogeneration, and battery storage. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) signed off on the deal in July, with conditions (see 
In July, MDN told you that Talen Energy, a leading energy producer in the U.S., which owns and operates approximately 10.7 gigawatts (GW) of power infrastructure, had announced the acquisition of two gas-fired power plants: one located near Wilkes-Barre in northeastern Pennsylvania, and the other in Guernsey County, in eastern Ohio (see 
In July, MDN told you that Talen Energy, a leading energy producer in the U.S., which owns and operates approximately 10.7 gigawatts (GW) of power infrastructure, had announced the acquisition of two gas-fired power plants: one located near Wilkes-Barre in northeastern Pennsylvania, and the other in Guernsey County, in eastern Ohio (see 
Infinity Natural Resources (INR), headquartered in Morgantown, WV, focuses 100% on the Marcellus/Utica. The company went public earlier this year with a $265 million ($20/share) initial public offering, giving INR a $1.18 billion market capitalization (see 
Disappointingly, the Trump Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted 3-0 to maintain a “consent order” that prevents private equity firm Quantum Energy Partners from owning stock in EQT and prohibits the CEO of Quantum from serving on EQT’s Board of Directors. This is all to do with EQT’s purchase of fellow driller Tug Hill in 2023. In September 2022, EQT announced a deal to buy privately owned Tug Hill Operating’s West Virginia shale assets (90,000 acres and 800 MMcf/d of production in West Virginia) for roughly $5.2 billion (see