Stock prices of US natgas producers soar as gas futures soar

Gas futures prices have risen by 27% in the last seven days, reaching a two-year high.

The extreme cold of recent days has pushed U.S. Gas Futures up to $4.42 per million British Thermal Units (mmBtu) at midday on Wednesday. This puts the front-month just a few cents away from the closing high of $2.258, which was reached on January 16 of this year.

The increase in gas futures has helped Devon Energy's stock, which announced earnings on February 18th, to reach a three-month high at $38.58 by midday Wednesday.

Devon reported that the total revenue from oil, gas, and midstream sales, as well as natural gas liquids, was $4.4 billion. This is a 6% rise over the previous quarter. The increase in revenue is primarily attributable to higher oil production, higher gas and NGLs prices, and increased oil production.

Comstock Resources shares, which released their earnings on the 18th of February, jumped about 10% to a new three-week high at $20.89 by midday on Wednesday.

The shares of other gas producers, such as Range Resources, Antero Resources, and EQT (the nation's second largest gas producer), also rose by around 3%.

EQT's shares were trading at $55.56 by midday. This is the highest price since 2014. EQT released its earnings on Tuesday.

Truist Securities' Neal Dingmann said that EQT shares increased on the back of better than expected organic production as compression and other factors pushed up organic production.

Antero shares were trading at around $40.75. This is the highest price since September 2022.

According to LSEG, data dating back to February 20, 2021, when Chesapeake Energy emerged from bankruptcy, shares of Expand Energy, America's largest gas producer, rose about 2%, to $108.52. This is the highest closing price in the company's history.

Expand was formed in October 2024 by the merger between Chesapeake Energy & Southwestern Energy.

(source: Reuters)