Antero Resources is negotiating the acquisition of private shale driller HG Energy, Bloomberg reported today, citing unnamed sources in the know.
The deal could be made public later today, with the price tag seen at nine figures, the sources also told Bloomberg, but cautioned that nothing is final and the acquisition may yet fall through.
HG Energy is owned by Quantum Energy Partners and is primarily a natural gas producers, focused on the Appalachian Basin with headquarters in West Virginia. Three years ago, Bloomberg again reported the company was exploring sale options. At the time, its value as estimated at $3 billion.
This has now probably gone up, as natural gas prices go up as well and may stay higher for longer amid predictions for a demand surge driven by Big Tech and its artificial intelligence drive.
Helped by winter setting in, last week U.S. natural gas futures topped $5 per million British thermal units for the first time in three years. This is up from an average $3.79 per mmBtu for November, according to data from the Energy Information Administration, and $2.97 per mmBtu for September. Compared with a year earlier, the November 2025 average was a substantial spike on an average price of $2.12 per mmBtu. The last time Henry Hub was over $5 per mmBtu was December 2022.
In such a price environment, gas producers are an attractive acquisition target and may well fetch a premium depending on their assets. In this case, HG Energy is a logical step for Antero Resources, which is present in West Virginia and has extensive operations there. Antero reported natural gas production of 2.2 billion cu ft daily for the latest full quarter, with liquids production of 206,000 barrels daily. The company said its realised natural gas price for the quarter stood at $3.59 per mmBtu of natural gas equivalent on a pre-hedge basis.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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