For nearly a year, U.S. natural gas producers have slammed the brakes on production as prices fall. But relentless output gains including from oil companies that pump gas as an oil byproduct have unleashed record supplies.
In the oil versus gas contest, gas producers are losing out. Some are shutting in wells, canceling projects or selling themselves to rivals to avoid losses. Natural gas prices this month fell to an inflation-adjusted 30-year low of $1.59 per thousand cubic feet, benefiting consumers of the fuel like utilities, but hurting producers who are selling at nominal prices as low as they were in the depths of the COVID-19 downturn.
As U.S. gas climbed to over $9 per thousand cubic feet, BKV’s Kalnin launched a costly and ambitious expansion plan. In July that year, he closed on a $750 million deal for Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), opens new tab gas properties in North Texas. The same month, he acquired a Temple, Texas, gas-fired power plant for $460 million. Weeks later, he followed that deal with a $250 million partnership, opens new tab with Texas-based Verde CO2 LLC to build a dozen carbon sequestration sites across the United States.
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