Ascent

Ohio pure-play Ascent Resources Utica Holdings LLC, the state’s largest natural gas producer, plans to slash capital spending significantly this year as it battles low commodity prices across the Appalachian Basin.

Ohio pure-play Ascent Resources LLC, the Utica Shale’s largest producer, said in a rare operational update that it expects to reach at least 2 Bcfe/d of production this year.

Ascent Resources LLC announced on Friday that it would acquire 113,400 net Utica Shale acres for $1.5 billion in a package of deals with multiple sellers, ballooning the company’s position in the play to more than 300,000 net acres and becoming one of the country’s largest private exploration and production (E&P) companies in the process.

Ascent Resources Marcellus Holdings LLC (ARM) and its subsidiaries have emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The filing was a negotiated agreement reached with first and second lien term loan holders to restructure the balance sheet, reduce long-term debt and improve liquidity. The company owed more than $1 billion on the loans. The bankruptcy proceedings did not involve Ascent Resources LLC or other affiliates that oversee Utica Shale operations in Ohio. ARM operates more than 40,000 acres in West Virginia.

Ascent Resources Marcellus Holdings LLC and its subsidiaries (ARM), successor companies that had their beginnings with the late Aubrey McClendon, have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Appalachian pure-play Ascent Resources LLC has reached a deal to sell 3.5 billion common units in a private placement that would net it $787 million in proceeds, extinguishing debt and alleviating concerns about how the company would fund aggressive development plans in Ohio’s Utica Shale.

Ascent Resources LLC has responded to a lawsuit filed by nearly 70 landowners in Southeast Ohio against its predecessor company, American Energy Utica LLC (AEU), seeking to dismiss claims that it owes more than $9.2 million in overdue lease signing bonuses and court fees.

It turned out that Wednesday’s softness was just the cash market taking a breather from this week’s price ascent based on heavy power generation load for air conditioning. The climb resumed Thursday at most points as temperatures approaching and in some cases exceeding 100 degrees will continue to sear the South, Midcontinent and Southwest into the weekend.

The ascent slowed down considerably, but prices extended this week’s rally into a third straight day Wednesday. As on the week’s first two trading days, awesome strength in energy futures and Southern air conditioning load continued to be primary drivers of cash market firmness.