Gas Deals Take Center Stage in Q4

After being overshadowed by oil focused transactions, gas deals have taken center stage in the final quarter of 2025 as strong current pricing and a bullish outlook for the commodity motivates buyers.

That’s what Andrew Dittmar, Principal Analyst at Enverus Intelligence Research (EIR), said in a statement sent to Rigzone recently, adding that “the latest round of deals include Antero Resources acquiring West Virginia producer HG Energy’s upstream assets for $2.8 billion plus the purchase of its midstream infrastructure by Antero Midstream for $1.1 billion”.

“Concurrently Antero and Antero Midstream are divesting their Ohio Utica position to a partnership of Infinity Natural Resources and Northern Oil and Gas [NOG] for a total of $1.2 billion, with the upstream portion garnering $800 million and the balance from midstream,” Dittmar continued.

In the statement, Dittmar said the deals “have an obvious strategic rationale for Antero as the company blocks up its core operating region in West Virginia and adds the second largest private E&P in the Marcellus by remaining inventory”.

“HG’s more than 400 remaining locations compliment Antero’s legacy position with comparable quality. The acquisition of HG by Antero had a sense of inevitability given their relative positions within the play and likely just needed the right time and commodity price environment for the two companies to come together,” he added.

“Along with the strategic fit between leasehold positions, the deal offers the opportunity to add further midstream infrastructure to Antero Midstream’s holdings,” he continued.

Dittmar highlighted in the statement that Antero “says it has identified $950 million in cumulative synergies (P-10 over 10 years) with more than half coming from drilling and completion savings and development optimization including longer laterals”, noting that “that is the type of strategic fit that investors want to see in acquisitions”.

Looking at HG “and their sponsor Quantum Energy Partners” in the statement, Dittmar noted that “strong gas prices and improved market sentiment around Appalachian gas including from data center demand make this an opportune time to pursue an exit”.

Dittmar went on to point out that Antero “is matching the HG purchase with the divestment of its Ohio Utica position to Infinity”, adding that this “has the dual benefits of partially offsetting the acquisition cost while also streamlining its portfolio and removing an asset that was not slated for material capital investment”. 

“The deal gives Infinity, a small and only relatively recently public E&P, a chance to expand its scale in the Utica with an asset that compliments its legacy acreage,” he highlighted.

Dittmar pointed out in the statement that, “with the combined Antero deals”, U.S. upstream mergers and acquisitions stand at “nearly $19 billion in 4Q25 for the highest quarterly total since the first half of 2024”.

“Gas transactions have played a material role in that, contributing about $6.6 billion in deal value. There is likely more to come, but gas M&A will start to run into the same problem that has slowed oil weighted deals, which is a dwindling of large-scale attractive targets,” he warned.

“That makes both Anteros and Infinity’s decision to jump on strategic assets a sensible move to close out the year,” Dittmar continued.

Antero, Infinity Comments

In a statement posted on its website on December 8, Antero Resources Corporation announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the upstream assets of HG Energy II LLC for total consideration of $2.8 billion in cash plus the assumption of HG Energy’s commodity hedge book, subject to customary closing adjustments. Antero also announced in that statement that it had entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Ohio Utica shale upstream assets for total consideration of $800 million in cash, subject to customary closing adjustments.

It went on to state that Antero Midstream announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the midstream assets from HG Energy for total consideration of $1.1 billion in cash, subject to customary closing adjustments. Antero added in that statement that Antero Midstream also announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Utica shale midstream assets for total consideration of $400 million, subject to customary closing adjustments.

A segment of the statement listing “transaction highlights” pointed out the identification of “approximately $950 million of synergies over 10 years (PV-10)”. The statement noted “capital synergies of approximately $550 million” and “income related synergies of approximately $400 million”.

“Today’s [December 8] acquisition expands our core acreage and enhances our position as the premier liquids developer in the Marcellus,” Michael Kennedy, President and CEO of Antero Resources, said in the statement.

“Importantly, we have clear line of sight to financing the acquired assets with Antero’s near-term free cash flow generation, proceeds from the non-core Utica divestiture, and the 3-year hedged free cash flow generated by the acquired assets,” he added.

“The acquired assets will also bolster our industry leading maintenance capital efficiency while providing us with further dry gas optionality for local demand from data centers and natural gas fired power plants,” he continued.

Brendan Krueger, CFO of Antero Resources, said in the statement, “the strategic transactions announced today are highly accretive on a per share basis across key metrics including operating cash flow, free cash flow, and net asset value”.

“We were able to divest a non-core asset at an attractive valuation and pair the expected use of proceeds with the acquisition of assets directly in the core of where we operate today,” he said.

“Importantly, as a result of managing Antero’s business with a strong balance sheet, executing the divestiture of the Utica assets and generating significant free cash flow, we expect to reduce leverage to 1.0x or lower in 2026 based on current strip pricing,” he continued.

A statement posted on Infinity Natural Resources Inc’s website on December 8 announced that the company’s subsidiary Infinity Natural Resources LLC entered into agreements to acquire upstream and midstream assets in Ohio from Antero Resources Corporation and Antero Midstream Corporation for a combined $1.2 billion. That statement also announced that Northern Oil and Gas Inc will acquire an undivided 49 percent interest in the assets for $588 million, “resulting in a $612 million purchase price net to Infinity for its undivided 51 percent interest”.

“This transformational and strategic acquisition represents the largest transaction in Infinity’s history, continuing our track record of aggregation within the Appalachian basin,” Zack Arnold, President and CEO of Infinity, said in that statement.

“We are acquiring high-quality, cash-generating assets in the heart of the Utica Shale that immediately compete for capital and significantly enhance our operational scale,” he added.

“The Antero Ohio assets complement our existing footprint, providing substantial inventory depth with over 110 low break-even locations across multiple development windows. The addition of strategic midstream infrastructure provides an additional growth engine for the company,” he continued.

“We are pleased that Northern recognized the value of these assets, and we are excited to partner with them on this highly accretive transaction that creates compelling value for both Infinity and Northern in the near and long term,” he went on to state.

NOG Statement

In a statement posted on its site on December 8, NOG Inc announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a 49 percent stake in Ohio Utica shale assets in partnership with Infinity for a purchase price, net to NOG, of $588.0 million in cash, subject to customary closing adjustments.

“NOG is singularly focused on executing transactions that add value to our platform for the long-term,” Nick O’Grady, NOG’s Chief Executive Officer, said in this statement.

“We are extremely pleased to be partnering with Infinity on one of the last growth assets in the core of the Utica. The vertical integration of this asset adds an incremental dimension of value creation for shareholders and enhances resiliency with lower breakevens to generate free cash flow through cycle,” he added.

In the statement, O’Grady said the Utica has emerged as one of the target rich natural gas plays in the United States.

“Infinity has already been a strong operating partner for NOG, and we share their focus on creating value. Our alignment in that vein sets the ground for a successful partnership, and we look forward to working together to achieve our mutual desire to generate returns for our respective investors,” he said.

“This transaction is now the largest we have done to date and is an excellent addition to our Appalachian portfolio, offering the benefit of an integrated midstream and a long-term, visible growth path well past the end of the decade,” he added.

Adam Dirlam, NOG’s President, said in the statement, “this Utica transaction exemplifies the intersection where NOG shines – identifying and acquiring best in class assets with the potential for significant long-term upside while also providing valuable capital to like-minded operators seeking to expand their footprint”.

“These assets epitomize our returns-focused strategy: delivering immediately while offering significant growth potential further enhancing NOG’s optionality. Importantly, like our precedent joint development transactions, we have devised an aligned, conservative development and governance plan with a proven E&P company,” he added.

“We continue to be the partner of choice for our operators as the largest, best capitalized, and most dependable non-op working interest owner in the United States,” he went on to state.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com