Ascent Resources made gains in natural gas exploration in 2024

  • March 8, 2025

Natural gas prices were challenging but Ascent Resources still had a “great year of success” according to company Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Fisher in releasing the fourth quarter and full-year 2024 financial results for the company that is the largest natural gas producer in the state of Ohio.
With focused drilling in the Marcellus shale, the Oklahoma City company reported a fourth quarter net loss of $135 million and adjusted net income of $145 million, adjusted EBITDAX of $385 million. Cash flows from operations were $280 million and adjusted free cash flow totaled $202 million.
Ascent incurred $142 million of total capital expenditures in the fourth quarter of 2024 consisting of $107 million of D&C costs, $27 million of land and leasehold costs, and $8 million of capitalized interest.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, Ascent reported a NetLoss of $55 million, Adjusted Net Income of $556 million and Adjusted EBITDAX of $1.5 billion, along with Cash Flows from Operations of $1.1 billion and Adjusted Free Cash Flow of $533 million. Ascent incurred a total of $794 million of capital expenditures during the year ended December 31, 2024 consisting of $635 million of D&C costs, $127 million of land and leasehold costs, and $32 million of capitalized interest.
“Looking to 2025, we believe Ascent is well positioned to be a beneficiary of the improving macro-outlook for natural gas. We have a high degree of confidence in our short- and long-term plans and look forward to delivering value to all stakeholders as we generate and grow free cash flow, further reduce debt, and return capital to unitholders,” said Fisher.
The company had net production averaging 2,186 mmcfe a day for the quarter and 2,166 mmcfe a day for the year. The fourth quarter 2024 realized price, including the impact of settled commodity derivatives, was $3.53 per mcfe. Excluding the impact of settled commodity derivatives, the realized price was $3.07 per mcfe in the fourth quarter of 2024.

The realized price, including the impact of settled commodity derivatives, was $3.44 per mcfe for the year ended December 31, 2024. Excluding the impact of settled commodity derivatives, the realized price for the year was $2.54 per mcfe.

As of December 31, 2024, Ascent had total debt of approximately $2.3 billion, with $555 million of borrowings and $84 million of letters of credit issued under the credit facility. Liquidity as of December 31, 2024 was approximately $1.4 billion, comprised of $1.4 billion of available borrowing capacity under the credit facility and $8 million of cash on hand.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, Ascent spud12 operated wells, hydraulically fractured 8 wells, and turned-in-line 15 wells with an average lateral length of 20,649 feet. For the full-year, Ascent spud 60 operated wells, hydraulically fractured 58 wells, and turned-in-line 57 wells with an average lateral length of approximately 15,903 feet. As of December 31, 2024, Ascent had 918 gross operated producing Utica wells.

Ascent has significant hedges in place to reduce exposure to the volatility in commodity prices, as well as to protect its expected operating cash flow. As of December 31, 2024, Ascent had hedged 1,550,000 mmbtu per day of natural gas production for 2025 at an average downside price of $3.77 per mmbtu, 1,205,000 mmbtu per day in 2026 at an average downside price of $3.72 per mmbtu, and 398,000 mmbtu per day in 2027 at an average downside price of $3.82 per mmbtu. Additionally, Ascent has hedged 11,000 bbls per day of crude oil production at an average downside price of $70.36 per bbl for 2025. Ascent also has a significant portion of its natural gas basis position hedged for 2025 along with additional natural gas hedges in place through 2027. Please reference the financial statements for additional detail on Ascent’s hedge position.

Initial 2025 Guidance

The Company expects its full-year 2025 production to come in between 2,050 mmcfe/d and 2,150 mmcfe/d while continuing to grow liquids production to 15% of the overall mix, at the midpoint. The total capital outlay for 2025 is expected to be in the range of $755 million and $815 million. 

Jerry Bohnen