Recently, what makes the people of Europe "sweat" is not only the extremely hot weather, but also the high price of natural gas, which is as high as the sun.

On August 18, local time, the settlement price of European natural gas futures rose to a record high, and the settlement price of the benchmark contract rose 6.7% to 241 euros per megawatt hour, setting a new record set during the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in early March. So farNatural gas prices in Europe are already ten times higher than normal in the same period in previous years.

According to Gazprom, European gas prices are likely to soar another 60 per cent this winter because of a slowdown in its gas exports to Europe. The wallets of ordinary Europeans are really hurt.

It is also worth mentioning thatNatural gas prices in the United States are also approaching a 15-year high.Natural gas prices in the United States soared by 50% in July alone.

However, if one party falls, the other party has enough to eat. American liquefied natural gas producers have made a lot of money in this wave of natural gas crisis.

Europe's "energy knight"! The United States has become the largest natural gas supplier in Europe.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), citing data from the International Gas Association, due to increased supplies to Europe during the crisis in UkraineThe United States became the largest exporter of liquefied natural gas in the first half of 2022.

EIA said that compared with the second half of 2021, US LNG exports increased by 12 per cent in the first half of this year, reaching an average of 11.2 billion cubic feet per day.

In the first five months of this year, most US LNG exports went to the European Union and the UK, accounting for 71 per cent of US LNG exports.

In the first half of this year, the United States sent the most liquefied natural gas to the European Union and the UK, accounting for 47 per cent of Europe's total LNG imports, followed by Qatar with 15 per cent, Russia with 14 per cent and four African countries with a combined 17 per cent.

EIA said there were three reasons for the continued growth in US LNG exports: increased LNG export capacity, higher international natural gas and LNG prices, and increased global demand, particularly in Europe.

However, at a time when Europe is scrambling to hoard natural gas for the winter, the US itself has sounded the natural gas inventory alarm.

Us natural gas inventories have fallen as a result of peak electricity consumption caused by the extreme heat of summer, coupled with strong foreign demand-regardless of high prices, US LNG suppliers hope to make huge profits from exports. domestic natural gas supplies in the United States will be more squeezed, so prices are easy to rise and fall.

So which natural gas producers are worth paying attention to in this case?

• Cheniere Energy

$Cheniere Energy (LNG.US)$Is the largest exporter of liquefied natural gas in the United States.

Benefiting from Gazprom's alternative demand, Cheniere Q2's net profit turned to a profit of $741 million ($2.90 per share) from a loss of $329 million per share in the same period last year, while adjusted EBITDA rose 147 per cent to $2.53 billion and revenue rose 165 per cent to $8 billion.

Cheniere also disclosed a contract to sell 140 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas by 2050.The second increase in the full-year profit forecast:

The companyThe adjusted EBITDA for fiscal 2022 is expected to be $98-$10.3 billion, up from the previous estimate of $82-8.7 billion and well above analysts' consensus expectations of $8.85 billion. It also raised its forecast for distributable cash flow to $69 to $7.4 billion, up from $55 to $6 billion previously.

Cheniere basically signed long-term and fixed-fee LNG sales contracts, so the cash flow certainty is high. The company had expected to generate cumulative distributable cash flow of $10 billion by 2024, which would be used for dividends (launched at the end of 2021), share buybacks, debt repayment and funding requirements for the third phase of the Corpus Christi project. Cheniere's balanced capital allocation plan is expected to create great value for shareholders in the next few years.

Year to dateCheniere Energy grew by more than 66%.

• EQT energy
  

$EQT Corp (EQT.US)$Is the largest natural gas producer in the United States.

EQT is committed to the integration of the natural gas industry. The company bought Chevron Corp's Appalachian basin assets for $735 million in 2020 and Alta Resource Development for $2.925 billion in 2021. These deals have boosted the company's capacity, size and free cash flow.

EQT expects the company to generate more than $10 billion in free cash flow by 2026, some of which will be used to repay $1.5 billion of liabilities due in 2023, and much of the remaining cash will be used for shareholder-friendly activities such as dividends, share buybacks and acquisitions. At the end of 2021, the company authorized a $1 billion share buyback, resumed dividends and plans to raise dividends in the coming years.

Goldman Sachs Group said the company would benefit from a favorable long-term outlook for natural gas and that the stock had the potential to be rerated as its balance sheet improved further and more free cash flows were allocated to capital returns.

Since the beginning of the year, EQT has risen by more than 124%.

• Kindell Morgan
  

$Kinder Morgan (KMI.US)$It is the leading energy infrastructure company in North America and controls the largest natural gas transmission network in the United States.In addition, Kinder Morgan is the largest independent transporter of refined petroleum products, independent terminal operator and carbon dioxide transporter, producing oil, renewable natural gas (RNG) and liquefied natural gas.

Acquisitions are an important driver of the company's growth. Kinder Morgan recently bought North American Natural Resources (North American Natural Resources) and its seven landfill gas power plants in Michigan and Kentucky for $135 million.

Kinder Morgan said the company would make a final investment decision to convert up to four of the seven landfill gas power plants into renewable natural gas facilities with a capital expenditure of about $175 million. Pending a final investment decision, the facilities are expected to be operational in early 2024, when they will generate about 2 billion cubic feet of renewable natural gas per year.

Kinder Morgan's cash flow is very stable, with 94% of its cash flow coming from non-negotiable contracts, other fee agreements or hedges, and free cash flow of more than $4 billion a year. The cash is mainly used to pay dividends, buy back shares, and expand the natural gas network through capital projects and acquisitions. The company's inventory expansion projects reached $1.4 billion in early 2022, of which about 45 per cent was natural gas-related infrastructure.

Since the beginning of the year, Kinder Morgan has gained about 25%.

• Tellurian

$Tellurian (TELL.US)$Mainly engaged in natural gas production and natural gas project investment.Last June, Tellurian signed a 10-year agreement with Victor, the world's largest private oil trader, to supply 3 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas a year.

In April, Tellurian reached an agreement to sell an additional $200m of common shares to T.R.Winston&Company LLC, which plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes. Tellurian had previously been licensed to export 27.6 million tons of LNG from its Driftwood plant in Louisiana and is raising its own funds to start the $12 billion project.

It should be noted that Tellurian's market capitalization is small, about $2.6 billion, and there is a risk of high share price volatility and illiquidity.

Since the beginning of the year, Tellurian has accumulated by about 52 per cent.

• Chesapeake Energy

$Chesapeake Energy (CHK.US)$Was the pioneer of the American shale revolution and was once the second largest natural gas company in the United States.But he was declared bankrupt because of a debt crisis during the outbreak.

Last February, Chesapeake emerged from bankruptcy and shifted from brutal expansion to a capital constraint model. In order to make a comeback, Chesapeake Energy has gradually shifted its focus to natural gas.

The company bought Vine Energy, a natural gas producer, for $2.2 billion last August to consolidate its position in Haynesville shale. The shale is close to many natural gas export facilities along the Gulf Coast of the United States. In January, Chesapeake Energy bought gas operator Chief Oil & Gas, which is located in the Marcellus shale belt in northeastern Pennsylvania.

After the release of its financial results in the second quarter of this year, the company CEO said it would focus on its shale gas projects in the United States and make the oil production project in Eagle Ford as a non-core business.In the future, it will turn to natural gas and liquefied natural gas exports.Chesapeake Energy plans to double natural gas production to meet the surge in global demand for liquefied natural gas in the United States.

The company has signed a natural gas supply agreement with the Golden Pass LNG terminal.

Chesapeake energy is up 70% year-to-date.

Other companies focusing on natural gas include:$Coterra Energy (CTRA.US) $、$Antero Resources (AR.US) $、$Mountain Resources (RRC.US) $、$Southwest Energy (SWN.US) $、$Comstock Energy (CRK.US) $等。