Buyout speculation around Ascent Resources is intensifying—and the numbers behind the company’s drilling program help explain why.
Ascent, a privately held operator focused 100% on the Ohio Utica Shale, is the largest natural gas producer in Ohio and the 8th largest gas producer in the United States. Over the past week, reports have surfaced of a competitive sale process, culminating in the first concrete valuation to hit the market: a $6 billion offer from Kimmeridge Energy, a private investment firm known for taking active, and sometimes activist, positions in energy assets.
While no deal has been announced, the emergence of a hard number has shifted the conversation from speculation to substance. And when you look under the hood—specifically at Ascent’s recent drilling and permit activity—the strategic appeal becomes clearer.
Drilling Activity Since 2024: Scale and Consistency
Based on Activity Date data tied to recent permits and wells drilled, Ascent has maintained a steady and highly concentrated development program across its core Ohio acreage.
Wells Drilled by Year
- 2024: 52 wells
- 2025 (YTD): 38 wells
- Total since 2024: 90 wells
This level of sustained activity underscores Ascent’s role as a true manufacturing-style shale operator, not a hold-and-wait asset. Even as broader U.S. gas markets have experienced volatility, Ascent has continued to convert inventory into production.
County-Level Concentration: A Core-Driven Utica Program
Drilling activity is tightly focused in Ohio’s most productive Utica counties:
Top Counties by Well Count (Since 2024)
- Harrison County – 25 wells
- Jefferson County – 25 wells
- Guernsey County – 18 wells
- Belmont County – 15 wells
- Noble County – 3 wells
This concentration matters. Buyers place a premium on contiguous acreage, repeatable geology, and infrastructure efficiency—all of which are reinforced by Ascent’s county-level drilling footprint. Harrison and Jefferson alone account for more than half of recent activity, signaling where the company sees its highest-return inventory.
Contractor and Rig Data: Operational Discipline on Display
Another key signal for potential acquirers is execution risk—or lack thereof. Ascent’s drilling program shows a high degree of operational consistency.
Top Contractors & Rigs by Well Count
- Patterson 581 – 33 wells
- Patterson 584 – 27 wells
- Patterson 578 – 25 wells
- Patterson 563 – 4 wells
- Falcon 8 – 1 well
Three Patterson rigs account for the vast majority of wells drilled. This kind of standardization typically translates into shorter learning curves, predictable cycle times, and better capital efficiency—all attributes that strengthen valuation in a sale process.
Why the Data Supports the Buyout Narrative
The emerging $6 billion bid doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Ascent checks several boxes that buyers are actively pursuing:
- Pure-play gas exposure in a market increasingly tied to LNG exports, power generation, and data center demand
- Large-scale, repeatable drilling inventory backed by recent permit execution
- Geographic focus in the core of the Ohio Utica
- Operational consistency with a limited set of drilling contractors and rigs
For firms like Kimmeridge—and likely other interested parties—Ascent represents not just production, but control over long-life, low-decline gas supply in a tightening North American market.
Bottom Line
Buyout rumors may have sparked the headlines, but Ascent Resources’ permit and drilling data provide the substance behind the story. With 90 wells drilled since 2024, a concentrated county footprint, and a disciplined drilling program, Ascent looks less like a speculative target and more like a strategic cornerstone asset.
If the bidding war escalates from here, the data suggests it won’t be hard to see why.
