Jerry Jones’ natural gas company wins big as the Texas freeze raises prices

Frisco-based natural gas producer, owned by Dallas billionaire Jerry Jones, is profiting from rising fuel prices, while a brutal freeze hits the central United States, leaving millions without power.

Comstock Resources Inc. has been able to sell gas from its Haynesville shale wells in eastern Texas and northern Louisiana at premium prices since Thursday. As demand increases amid the cold, gas in some regional centers has exceeded $ 1,000 per million British thermal units.

Gas from Comstock’s Haynesville wells was sold on the spot market for between $ 15 and $ 179 per 1,000 cubic feet, Chief Financial Officer Roland Burns said on Wednesday in a results conference call. That translates to between $ 15.55 and $ 186 per million British thermal units.

“This week is like winning big with some of those incredible prices,” said Burns. “Frankly, we were able to sell at super premium prices for a significant amount of production.”

Gas production has dropped to its lowest level in four years, as a polar explosion causes blackouts across Texas and other central US states, freezes liquids inside pipes and forces wells to close. Producers may take until March to fully restore supplies due to equipment damage, according to Charles Nevle, senior director of gas for North America at IHS Markit.

At Henry Hub, Louisiana, the benchmark for delivering futures in New York, spot gas was traded at $ 20 or more on Wednesday morning, according to two traders. This compares to a $ 16.13 deal on Tuesday and just $ 3.73 the week before.

Next-day delivery at the Oneok gas transport center in Oklahoma was negotiated at $ 1,250 per million British thermal units on Wednesday, according to David Hoy, a Dynasty Power dealer in Calgary. That figure was $ 999 on Tuesday and just $ 9 the week before.

Sergio Chapa, Bloomberg