Aethon Energy Wins Deal of the Week
Aside from the billion-dollar deals this week in the scene-stealing Permian, a much smaller acquisition in the gas-rich Haynesville might well take the prize for best bargain. Reese Energy Consulting today is following the latest from Dallas-based Aethon Energy, an investment firm and E&P, which has stealthily built its Haynesville position over the last eight years.
Back in 2014, large operators there like Shell and Encana were staking For Sale signs on their assets in a basin that mostly fell into slumber over the next two years. But 2016 brought a Haynesville reawakening. Private operators moved in to nudge the sleeping gas giant, the same year the nation’s first LNG export cargo set sail from La., bound for Brazil, and everyone and their French poodle wanted in on the burgeoning LNG biz. More terminals to build; more gas supplies to feed them. And Aethon’s gas-to-LNG strategy began paying off.
The company is currently the Haynesville’s top dog producer—at least until Chesapeake Energy’s merger with Southwestern Energy gets a government kiss. But no matter. Aethon is all eyes on growth now with its shiny new acquisition of Tellurian’s Haynesville assets for $260 million. And that might well be a steal. Analysts report the sale, which consists of 29,883 net acres, interests in 167 producing wells, and midstream bones, is $100 million less than their book value. Tellurian, which reported $25.5 million in 1Q gas revenues, is cash hungry to help save its beleaguered $25 billion Driftwood LNG project. As part of the deal, the two have signed an HOA that would see Aethon buying 2 MPTA of LNG should Driftwood become a reality. The agreement is non-binding.