With the weather turning extremely cold this week and gas demand and prices rising, Dell'Osso said he has received a lot of questions about whether Expand would boost output faster than previously projected.
"The answer is no. Nothing has changed for us," Dell'Osso said. "You don't want to grow for a season, you want to grow for something that is durable over several years."
After gas prices collapsed in the first half of 2024, several U.S. energy firms reduced gas output. Those reductions caused annual production in 2024 to decline for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic cut demand for the fuel in 2020.
"So now, we can utilize some of that capacity we (deferred) in 2024 ... to offset declines," Dell'Osso said. "We can level out our production (at) a good level in the range of 7 bcfd."
Expand, which was formed by the merger of Chesapeake Energy and Southwestern Energy, said it produced about 6.75 bcfd of gas equivalent in the third quarter of 2024.
Shares of Expand were trading around $103.30, their highest since November 2022.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration projected total U.S. gas output would rise to 103.7 bcfd in 2025 after declining to 103.2 bcfd in 2024 from a record 103.8 bcfd in 2023.
One billion cubic feet of gas can supply about 5 million U.S. homes for a day.
After average gas prices at the U.S. Henry Hub benchmark in Louisiana collapsed to a four-year low of around $2.19 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) in 2024, energy analysts forecast prices would rise to a three-year high of $3.44 in 2025.
Dell'Osso said U.S. demand for gas for export was on track to rise by around 5.6 bcfd by the end of 2026 as new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants enter service.
Plants under construction include Venture Global LNG's Plaquemines in Louisiana, Cheniere Energy's (LNG.N), opens new tab Corpus Christi expansion in Texas and Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), opens new tab/QatarEnergy's Golden Pass in Texas.
The U.S. currently exports about 13% of the gas it produces as LNG. That percentage will likely grow in coming years as more export plants enter service.
Dell'Osso said he wants to sell more gas to customers at international prices, noting 15%-20% of total sales would be a good target. But with only one international supply deal and a lot of gas to sell after the merger, he said it would likely take a long time before Expand's international sales reach that level.
