U.S. energy company Expand Energy, the nation’s biggest natural gas producer, expects to spend less to produce more gas in 2025 and 2026, the company’s CEO Nick Dell’Osso told analysts on an earnings call on Wednesday.
“We are clearly spending less for more production, which is the ultimate definition of efficiency,” Dell’Osso said.
In its earnings release, Expand said its full year 2025 net production would be around 7.15 billion cubic feet of gas equivalent per day (bcfed), about 50 million cubic feet of gas equivalent per day (mmcfed) higher than its prior production guidance midpoint.
Expand said it reduced its full year capital investment expectations by around $75 million to $2.85 billion, inclusive of about $250 million to build productive capacity by exiting 2025 with around 12 rigs.
Should market conditions warrant, Expand said, this incremental capital investment positions the company to efficiently grow production to around 7.5 bcfed in 2026.
One billion cubic feet is enough gas to supply about five million U.S. homes for a day.
In the Haynesville Basin in Texas and Louisiana, Dell’Osso said the company was able to deliver with 7 rigs, the same production it took 13 rigs to deliver in 2023.
“These efficiency gains are sustainable and deliver significant improvement to our breakeven, which today averages less than $2.75 (per thousand cubic feet) across the basin,” Dell’Osso said.
“These efficiencies will carry forward to 2026,” he said.
In the third quarter, Expand said it operated an average of 11 rigs, drilling 41 wells and turning 57 wells to sales, resulting in net production of about 7.33 bcfed, about 92% of which was gas.
(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)