APA Corp realized negative $2.20 per Mcf on its U.S. gas last quarter, yet still expects roughly $950 million in pretax cash flow from a gas-trading book tied to global LNG prices. Venture Global, Golar LNG, Equinor and Antero Resources are also profiting from the Strait of Hormuz standoff, each through a different piece of the disrupted gas trade.
APA turns a losing price into a trading windfall
APA Corp (Nasdaq: APA) realized an average of negative $2.20 per Mcf for the natural gas it produced in the U.S. in the second quarter, effectively paying to get rid of it as Waha hub prices stayed underwater. The company curtailed about 137 MMcf per day of production in response.
Even so, a contract signed years before the war is paying off. APA sells 140,000 MMBtu per day to Cheniere at prices pegged to international LNG benchmarks under a deal running through 2037, and the company expects about $950 million in pretax cash flow from gas trading this year. According to Barclays analyst Betty Jiang: "the greatest exposure to LNG prices in our coverage" describes APA among her coverage. The stock had climbed 89% over the 52 weeks leading into that report.
Venture Global's spot-market bet pays off
Venture Global Inc. (NYSE: VG) priced its IPO at $25 a share in January 2025 before falling into the single digits by year-end, as investors balked at a model that sells into the spot market while long-term buyers waited on contracted cargoes. That changed once the spot market went haywire: net income jumped 266% to $1.3 billion in the second quarter on $4.6 billion in revenue.
On Oct. 1, ConocoPhillips signed a 20-year deal to take 1 million tonnes a year from Venture Global starting in 2030. Shares rose more than 50% in the war's first weeks but have since bounced around in the low-to-mid teens, still about half of what IPO buyers paid.
Equinor cashes in on piped gas and trading
Equinor ASA (NYSE: EQNR) realized $15.79 per MMBtu for piped gas in Europe, compared with just $1.96 for its U.S. gas, as EU storage sat around 67% in mid-September. CFO Torgrim Reitan said the trading result was almost twice what Equinor books in a normal quarter, and the company doubled its 2026 buyback to $3 billion.
Germany's Uniper signed a 15-year supply deal with Equinor in late August for about 2.8 billion cubic meters a year of Norwegian gas through 2041. Third-quarter results are due Oct. 28.
Golar and Antero round out the list
Golar LNG Ltd. (Nasdaq: GLNG) ordered a fourth floating liquefaction vessel in August, a $2.45 billion, 3.5 MTPA unit due around the end of 2029, without a customer yet lined up. Shares jumped 7.7% on the announcement.
Antero Resources Corp. (NYSE: AR) has benefited less from gas prices than from propane: the U.S. share of China's LPG imports climbed to 51% in the second quarter, up from 10% in June 2025. Antero's gas revenue stayed roughly flat while NGL revenue jumped 22%.
Source: Oilprice.com
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