Denver-based Antero Resources had a lot to crow about in 3Q reported last October.  With Appalachia gas and liquids coursing through its 500,000+ acre veins in the Marcellus and Utica, Antero announced $76 million in net income, 3.4 BCFE/D in net production, record-smashing drilling laterals, and several bolt-on acquisitions in the company’s core Marcellus position. But behind the scenes, a major overhaul of Antero’s portfolio was already at work. And a party was just getting started.

Reese Energy Consulting today is following the latest news from Antero, which mulled a sale back in September of its Ohio Utica upstream and midstream assets, looking to fetch as much as $1 billion. This, as more Appalachia gas operators restructured their strategies ahead of data center and gas-fired power demand.

Now in a series of transactions, Antero will wave so long to those Utica assets for a $1.2 billion split between Infinity Natural Resources (51%) and Northern Oil & Gas (49%). Then comes the biggie for Antero and its Marcellus acquisitions of HG Energy’s upstream and HG Energy Midstream’s assets. The $3.9 billion deals ($2.8 billion for upstream) add 385,000 net acres in W.V., for a total 860,000, and add 850 MMCFE/D in production. Whew. That’s a party worth its weight in gas.