Antero Resources Reports Second Quarter 2021 Financial and Operational Results

DENVER, July 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE: AR) ("Antero Resources", "Antero", or the "Company") today announced its second quarter 2021 financial and operational results.  The relevant consolidated financial statements are included in Antero Resource's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2021. 

Second Quarter 2021 Highlights Include:

• Net production averaged 3,324 MMcfe/d, including 173,000 Bbl/d of liquids
• Realized natural gas equivalent price averaged $3.78 per Mcfe, a $0.95 per Mcfe premium to NYMEX pricing
• Realized C3+ NGL prices averaged $40.32 per barrel, or 61% of WTI, a 159% increase from the year ago period
• Net loss was $523 million, which included a $757 million unrealized hedging loss; Adjusted Net Income was $42 million (Non-GAAP)
• Adjusted EBITDAX was $319 million (Non-GAAP); net cash provided by operating activities was $309 million
• Free Cash Flow was $105 million (Non-GAAP)
• Net Debt at quarter end was $2.4 billion, a $158 million reduction from March 31, 2021 and a $591 million reduction from year end 2020 (Non-GAAP)
• Net Debt to last twelve months Adjusted EBITDAX declined to 1.7x
• Credit facility was undrawn and liquidity was $1.9 billion as of June 30, 2021
• Increased full year 2021 natural gas realization guidance by $0.05 per Mcf to a premium to NYMEX of $0.15 to $0.25 per Mcf
• Reduced full year 2021 net marketing expense guidance by 22% to a range of $0.06 to $0.08 per Mcfe
• Announced pilot with Project Canary to certify the Company's Responsibly Sourced Gas (RSG)
• Established company records for completion stages per day for the quarter and on a pad at 9.8 and 10.8 stages per day, respectively
• Drilled the Company's longest lateral to date in the Marcellus with a lateral length of 18,858 feet

Paul Rady, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Antero Resources commented, "Today's macro backdrop highlights Antero's core strengths, which include liquids rich development and a firm transportation portfolio that delivers natural gas and NGL realizations at a premium to benchmark prices.  Driven by strong international demand and flat U.S. supply, C3+ NGL prices during the quarter were nearly triple the year ago period.  In addition, at a time when tight takeaway capacity in the Appalachian Basin is resulting in wider differentials, our firm transportation enabled us to realize a pre-hedge natural gas price at an $0.18 per Mcf premium to NYMEX.  The result of these competitive advantages was Free Cash Flow of $105 million during the quarter.  Based on today's strip prices, we are targeting over $750 million in Free Cash Flow in 2021, which we intend to use for additional debt reduction."

Mr. Rady continued, "We are committed to maintaining our leadership position in ESG.  Our pilot with Project Canary is expected to certify a portion of the Company's assets on the quality of the engineering design we utilize and the operational practices that we employ, while underscoring the high environmental standards by which Antero's natural gas is produced.  Natural gas is key to the energy transition and will be critical in delivering a low carbon, affordable fuel to an expanding global economy."

Michael Kennedy, Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Finance of Antero Resources said, "Since the end of 2020, we have reduced absolute debt by nearly $600 million, resulting in a leverage profile of 1.7x.  Based on today's NGL and natural gas future strips, we expect to achieve our goal of absolute debt under $2 billion in early 2022.  Further, based on today's strip prices, we expect Free Cash Flow in 2022 to be higher than in 2021, driving leverage toward 1.0x by year end 2022.   As we approach our balance sheet objectives, we will be opportunistic in further debt pay down and returning capital to our shareholders."

For a discussion of the non-GAAP financial measures including Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted EBITDAX, Free Cash Flow and Net Debt please see "Non-GAAP Financial Measures."

Guidance Update  

Antero increased guidance for its realized natural gas price to a premium to NYMEX of $0.15 to $0.25 per Mcf from a range of $0.10 to $0.20 per Mcf previously, reflecting a 33% increase at the midpoint. The increase was driven primarily by tighter differentials in the NYMEX related markets where Antero's gas is sold. 

Net marketing expense guidance was reduced by 22% at the midpoint, reflecting higher third party marketing volumes and the mitigation of excess firm transportation expense year-to-date.

Cash production expense guidance was increased by 2% to a range of $2.23 to $2.28 per Mcfe reflecting higher fuel and ad valorem costs due to the increase in commodity prices. 

Antero increased its land capital budget by $22.5 million at the midpoint to reflect accelerated leasehold spend as the company continues to focus on organically expanding its core liquids rich inventory. 

An outage at the Sherwood processing facility occurred on June 30, 2021 and lasted four days, resulting in 10 Bcfe of deferred production.  The outage primarily impacted third quarter 2021 production volumes as the facility ramped back up over several days in early July.  This downtime is expected to result in full year 2021 production at the lower end of the 3.3 to 3.4 Bcfe guidance range.

Project Canary

Antero has entered into a pilot to certify multiple pads utilizing Project Canary's TrustWell certification process.  Antero's certification process is set to begin in the fourth quarter of 2021 and to be completed in the first quarter of 2022.  The TrustWell certification also aligns with Antero's long-term goals to reduce methane leak loss rate by 50% to under 0.025%, reduce GHG intensity by 10% and to achieve Net Zero Scope 1 emissions by 2025.  

Debt Reduction

Antero reduced net debt by $158 million during the second quarter utilizing Free Cash Flow and the $51 million contingency earnout received from achieving volume thresholds related to the ORRI transaction.  In May, Antero used proceeds from a $600 million offering of senior notes due 2030 to redeem all of its senior notes due in 2023.  Following the offering, Antero's nearest maturity is 2025.  Further, as of June 30, 2021, Antero has an undrawn credit facility. The company plans to continue to utilize Free Cash Flow to reduce debt, with the near-term goal of reducing debt to under $2.0 billion. 

Second Quarter 2021 Free Cash Flow

During the second quarter, Antero generated $105 million in Free Cash Flow.  Free Cash Flow before Changes in Working Capital was $77 million during the second quarter. 

Second Quarter 2021 Financial Results

Net loss was $523 million, or $1.70 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $463 million, or $1.73 per diluted share, in the prior year period.  The net loss was driven by a $757 million unrealized commodity derivative fair value loss primarily as a result of the rise in the natural gas futures strip prices during the quarter.  Adjusted Net Income (non-GAAP measure) was $42 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, compared to Adjusted Net Loss of $99 million, or $0.37 per diluted share, in the prior year period.

Adjusted EBITDAX was $319 million, a 71% increase compared to the prior year quarter, driven by higher realized natural gas and NGL prices. 

Net daily natural gas equivalent production in the second quarter averaged 3.3 Bcfe/d, including 173,000 Bbl/d of liquids, as detailed in the table below. 

Antero's average realized natural gas price before hedging was $3.01 per Mcf, representing a 76% increase compared to the prior year period.  Despite Appalachian Basin differentials that widened significantly during the quarter, Antero realized an $0.18 per Mcf premium to the average NYMEX Henry Hub price by capitalizing on its premium firm transportation.  Widening differentials that were experienced by others were driven by increasing supply and insufficient spare pipeline capacity that Antero expects to continue into the future. 

The following table details the components of average net production and average realized prices for the three months ended June 30, 2021:

Antero's average realized C3+ NGL price before hedging was $40.32 per barrel, a 159% increase versus the prior year period.  Antero shipped 55% of its total C3+ NGL net production on Mariner East 2 for export and realized a $0.07 per gallon premium to Mont Belvieu pricing on these volumes at Marcus Hook, PA.  Antero sold the remaining 45% of C3+ NGL net production at a $0.10 per gallon discount to Mont Belvieu pricing at Hopedale, OH.  The resulting blended price on 114,725 Bbl/d of net C3+ NGL production was $40.32 per barrel, which was a $0.01 per gallon discount to Mont Belvieu pricing.  Antero expects to sell at least 50% of its C3+ NGL production in 2021 at Marcus Hook for export at a premium to Mont Belvieu.  The average realized price for C3+ NGLs is forecasted to be in the range of $0.00 to a $0.05 per gallon premium relative to Mont Belvieu pricing in 2021, unchanged from prior guidance.

All-in cash expense, which includes lease operating, gathering, compression, processing and transportation, production and ad valorem taxes was $2.30 per Mcfe in the second quarter, a 9% increase compared to $2.11 per Mcfe average during the second quarter of 2020.  The increase from a year ago was due primarily to an increase in gathering, processing and transportation expense driven by higher fuel costs as a result of higher natural gas prices and $12 million in incentive fee rebates earned in the second quarter of 2020 that were not earned in the second quarter of 2021.  Transportation expense increased $0.06 per Mcfe due to increased utilization on higher tariff pipelines into the Midwest and Gulf Coast, which in turn led to higher natural gas price realizations.  Lease operating expense was $0.07 per Mcfe in the second quarter, a decrease of $0.01 per Mcfe from the year ago period.  Production and ad valorem expense increased $0.05 per Mcfe from the year ago period due to higher commodity prices.

G&A expense was $0.09 per Mcfe, flat from the second quarter of 2020.  G&A expense is expected to be in the range of $0.08 to $0.10 per Mcfe for the remainder of 2021.

Net marketing loss was $0.11 per Mcfe in the second quarter, compared to a loss of $0.15 per Mcfe reported in the prior year period.  The improvement was due to higher third party marketing volumes. 

Second Quarter 2021 Operating Update

Antero placed 22 horizontal Marcellus wells to sales during the second quarter with an average lateral length of 11,740 feet. Nine of the 22 new wells have been on line for at least 60 days and the average 60-day rate per well was 23.2 MMcfe/d, including approximately 922 Bbl/d of liquids assuming 25% ethane recovery. 

Antero set a company record for completion stages per day for a quarter at 9.8 stages per day, a 23% increase from the 8.0 stages per day average in 2020, as well as a new monthly record at 10.7 stages per day. Antero is currently operating three drilling rigs and two completion crews.

Second Quarter 2021 Capital Investment

Antero's accrued drilling and completion capital expenditures for the three months ended June 30, 2021 were $167 million.  In addition to capital invested in drilling and completion costs, the Company invested $16 million in land during the second quarter.  For a reconciliation of accrued capital expenditures to cash capital expenditures see the table in the Non-GAAP Financial Measures section.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

As of June 30, 2021, Antero's total debt was $2.4 billion with no borrowings outstanding under the Company's revolving credit facility.  After deducting letters of credit outstanding, the Company had approximately $1.9 billion in available liquidity at June 30, 2021.  Net debt to trailing twelve month Adjusted EBITDA ratio (non-GAAP) was 1.7x as of June 30, 2021.  

Commodity Derivative Positions

As of June 30, 2021, the Company has hedged 835 Bcf of natural gas at a weighted average index price of $2.62 per MMBtu through 2023 with fixed price swap positions.  Antero also has oil and NGL fixed price swap positions, as detailed in the below table. 

Please see Antero's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2021, for more information on all commodity derivative positions.  For detail on current commodity positions, please see the Hedge Profile presentations at www.anteroresources.com.

The following tables summarize Antero's natural gas and NGL hedge position as of June 30, 2021:

Fixed price natural gas positions from July 1, 2021 through December 31, 2023 were as follows:

NGL and oil derivative contract positions from July 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021 were as follows:

Conference Call

A conference call is scheduled on Thursday, July 29, 2021 at 9:00 am MT to discuss the financial and operational results.  A brief Q&A session for security analysts will immediately follow the discussion of the results.  To participate in the call, dial in at 877-407-9079 (U.S.), or 201-493-6746 (International) and reference "Antero Resources."  A telephone replay of the call will be available until Thursday, August 5, 2021 at 9:00 am MT at 877-660-6853 (U.S.) or 201-612-7415 (International) using the conference ID: 13720339.

A simultaneous webcast of the call may be accessed over the internet at www.anteroresources.com.  The webcast will be archived for replay on the Company's website until Thursday, August 5, 2021 at 9:00 am MT.

Presentation

An updated presentation will be posted to the Company's website before the conference call. The presentation can be found at www.anteroresources.com on the homepage. Information on the Company's website does not constitute a portion of, and is not incorporated by reference into this press release.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Adjusted Net Income (Loss)

Adjusted Net Income (Loss) as set forth in this release represents net loss, adjusted for certain items.  Antero believes that Adjusted Net Income (Loss) is useful to investors in evaluating operational trends of the Company and its performance relative to other oil and gas producing companies.  Adjusted Net Income (Loss) is not a measure of financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for net loss as an indicator of financial performance.  The following tables reconcile net loss to Adjusted Net Income (Loss) (in thousands):

Net Debt

Net Debt is calculated as total debt less cash and cash equivalents.  Management uses Net Debt to evaluate the Company's financial position, including its ability to service its debt obligations.

The following table reconciles consolidated total debt to Net Debt as used in this release (in thousands):

Free Cash Flow

Free Cash Flow is a measure of financial performance not calculated under GAAP and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for cash flow from operating, investing, or financing activities, as an indicator of cash flow, or as a measure of liquidity.  The Company defines Free Cash Flow as net cash provided by operating activities, less net cash used in investing activities, which includes drilling and completion capital and leasehold capital, less proceeds from asset sales and less distributions to non-controlling interests in Martica.

The Company has not provided projected net cash provided by operating activities or a reconciliation of Free Cash Flow to projected net cash provided by operating activities, the most comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP.  The Company is unable to project net cash provided by operating activities for any future period because this metric includes the impact of changes in operating assets and liabilities related to the timing of cash receipts and disbursements that may not relate to the period in which the operating activities occurred.  The Company is unable to project these timing differences with any reasonable degree of accuracy without unreasonable efforts.

Free Cash Flow is a useful indicator of the Company's ability to internally fund its activities and to service or incur additional debt. There are significant limitations to using Free Cash Flow as a measure of performance, including the inability to analyze the effect of certain recurring and non-recurring items that materially affect the Company's net income, the lack of comparability of results of operations of different companies and the different methods of calculating Free Cash Flow reported by different companies. Free Cash Flow does not represent funds available for discretionary use because those funds may be required for debt service, land acquisitions and lease renewals, other capital expenditures, working capital, income taxes, exploration expenses, and other commitments and obligations.

Adjusted EBITDAX

Adjusted EBITDAX is a non-GAAP financial measure that we define as net loss, adjusted for certain items detailed below. 

Adjusted EBITDAX as used and defined by us, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures employed by other companies and is not a measure of performance calculated in accordance with GAAP.  Adjusted EBITDAX should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for operating income or loss, net income or loss, cash flows provided by operating, investing, and financing activities, or other income or cash flow statement data prepared in accordance with GAAP.  Adjusted EBITDAX provides no information regarding our capital structure, borrowings, interest costs, capital expenditures, working capital movement, or tax position.  Adjusted EBITDAX does not represent funds available for discretionary use because those funds may be required for debt service, capital expenditures, working capital, income taxes, exploration expenses, and other commitments and obligations.  However, our management team believes Adjusted EBITDAX is useful to an investor in evaluating our financial performance because this measure:

• is widely used by investors in the oil and natural gas industry to measure operating performance without regard to items excluded from the calculation of such term, which may vary substantially from company to company depending upon accounting methods and the book value of assets, capital structure and the method by which assets were acquired, among other factors;
• helps investors to more meaningfully evaluate and compare the results of our operations from period to period by removing the effect of our capital and legal structure from our operating structure;
• is used by our management team for various purposes, including as a measure of our operating performance, in presentations to our Board of Directors, and as a basis for strategic planning and forecasting: and
• is used by our Board of Directors as a performance measure in determining executive compensation.

There are significant limitations to using Adjusted EBITDAX as a measure of performance, including the inability to analyze the effects of certain recurring and non-recurring items that materially affect our net income or loss, the lack of comparability of results of operations of different companies, and the different methods of calculating Adjusted EBITDAX reported by different companies.

The following table represents a reconciliation of Antero's net loss, including noncontrolling interest, to Adjusted EBITDAX and a reconciliation of Antero's Adjusted EBITDAX to net cash provided by operating activities per our consolidated statements of cash flows, in each case, for the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2021.  Adjusted EBITDAX also excludes the noncontrolling interests in Martica and these adjustments are disclosed in the table below as Martica related adjustments.

Drilling and Completion Capital Expenditures

For a reconciliation between cash paid for drilling and completion capital expenditures and drilling and completion accrued capital expenditures during the period, please see the capital expenditures section below (in thousands):

Notwithstanding their use for comparative purposes, the Company's non-GAAP financial measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures employed by other companies.

Antero Resources is an independent natural gas and natural gas liquids company engaged in the acquisition, development and production of unconventional properties located in the Appalachian Basin in West Virginia and Ohio. In conjunction with its affiliate, Antero Midstream (NYSE: AM), Antero is one of the most integrated natural gas producers in the U.S.  The Company's website is located at www.anteroresources.com.

This release includes "forward-looking statements." Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are not under Antero Resources' control. All statements, except for statements of historical fact, made in this release regarding activities, events or developments Antero Resources expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future, such as those regarding expected results, future commodity prices, future production targets, realizing potential future fee rebates or reductions, including those related to certain levels of production, future earnings, leverage targets and debt repayment, future capital spending plans, improved and/or increasing capital efficiency, estimated realized natural gas, NGL and oil prices, expected drilling and development plans, projected well costs and cost savings initiatives, future financial position, the participation level of our drilling partner and the financial and production results to be achieved as a result of that drilling partnership, the other key assumptions underlying our projections, and future marketing opportunities, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. Although Antero Resources believes that the plans, intentions and expectations reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements are reasonable, there is no assurance that these plans, intentions or expectations will be achieved. Therefore, actual outcomes and results could materially differ from what is expressed, implied or forecast in such statements. Except as required by law, Antero Resources expressly disclaims any obligation to and does not intend to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.

Antero Resources cautions you that these forward-looking statements are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties, incident to the exploration for and development, production, gathering and sale of natural gas, NGLs and oil most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the Antero Resources' control. These risks include, but are not limited to, commodity price volatility, inflation, lack of availability of drilling and production equipment and services, environmental risks, drilling and other operating risks, regulatory changes, the uncertainty inherent in estimating natural gas and oil reserves and in projecting future rates of production, cash flow and access to capital, the timing of development expenditures, impacts of world health event, including the COVID-19 pandemic, cybersecurity risks and the other risks described under the heading "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in Antero Resources' Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2021.

The following table set forth selected financial data for the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2021:

The following table set forth selected operating data for the three months ended June, 2020 and 2021:

SOURCE Antero Resources Corporation