Company Description
Chord Energy Corporation (NASDAQ: CHRD) is an independent exploration and production company focused on crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. According to its public disclosures and investor communications, Chord Energy holds quality, sustainable, long-lived assets primarily in the Williston Basin, a major oil and gas producing region in the continental United States. The company describes its resources as unconventional, onshore and oil-rich, and emphasizes efficient, safe and responsible development of these assets.
Core business and asset base
Chord Energy operates in the crude petroleum and natural gas extraction industry within the broader mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction sector. The company states that it acquires, exploits, develops and explores crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids in the Williston Basin. Its asset base is characterized in company materials as long-lived and sustainable, with a focus on oil-weighted production and unconventional resource development.
In multiple press releases, Chord Energy highlights its position in the Williston Basin and notes that its acreage and development program support oil, NGL and natural gas production. The company reports production volumes in thousands of barrels of oil per day and thousands of barrels of oil equivalent per day, reflecting a mix of crude oil, NGLs and natural gas. It also discloses that part of its natural gas production comes from the Marcellus, while emphasizing that its core assets and strategic focus are in the Williston Basin.
Development approach and operations
Chord Energy’s public updates describe an operating model centered on disciplined capital allocation and continuous improvement in drilling and completion efficiency. The company reports capital expenditures for exploration and production activities and tracks metrics such as lease operating expense, gathering, processing and transportation costs, and production taxes. Its disclosures show an emphasis on managing operating costs per barrel of oil equivalent and on optimizing marketing and midstream arrangements for crude oil, natural gas and water across its Williston Basin position.
The company has described the use of longer horizontal wells, including three- and four-mile laterals, as part of its development strategy in the Williston Basin. In its operational updates, Chord Energy reports on the timing and cost performance of these long-lateral wells, turn-in-line (TIL) activity, and the number of gross and net operated wells brought online in a given period. It also notes efforts to improve drilling days, completion efficiency and facility design to lower costs and support higher free cash flow generation.
Financial profile and capital structure
Chord Energy’s SEC filings and press releases provide detail on its capital structure, including a senior secured revolving credit facility and senior unsecured notes. The company has issued senior notes due 2030 and 2033 and has used proceeds from note offerings for purposes such as funding acquisitions of oil and gas assets in the Williston Basin, repaying borrowings under its revolving credit facility and addressing existing notes. An indenture filed on Form 8-K describes the terms, covenants and redemption provisions of the 6.000% senior unsecured notes due 2030.
In its quarterly results releases, Chord Energy reports net cash provided by operating activities, net income or loss, and non-GAAP measures such as Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Free Cash Flow and Adjusted Net Income. The company discusses lease operating expense, gathering, processing and transportation expense, production taxes, and depreciation, depletion and amortization as key components of its cost structure. It also provides guidance ranges for production volumes, capital expenditures, operating costs and cash taxes under specified commodity price assumptions.
Return of capital and shareholder framework
Chord Energy regularly discloses a return of capital framework that references distributing a stated percentage of Adjusted Free Cash Flow at different net leverage levels. In its public communications, the company reports base dividends per share of common stock and details on share repurchase activity, including the number of shares repurchased, average repurchase prices and total amounts spent in a given quarter. It has also noted authorization of a share repurchase program with a defined total capacity, replacing a prior program.
The company’s press releases describe periods in which it returned a high percentage of Adjusted Free Cash Flow to shareholders through a combination of base dividends and share repurchases. Chord Energy links these actions to its focus on capital discipline, free cash flow generation and balance sheet management, including references to leverage metrics and liquidity under its revolving credit facility.
Strategic transactions and Williston Basin focus
Chord Energy has announced strategic acquisitions to expand its Williston Basin footprint. In a transaction with XTO Energy Inc. and certain affiliates, the company agreed to acquire assets in the Williston Basin for cash consideration, funded through a combination of cash on hand and borrowings. Public materials describe these assets as core acreage in the Williston Basin with a significant operated working interest, held-by-production status, and an inventory of long-lateral development locations.
The company characterizes the acquired assets as having breakeven economics at NYMEX WTI prices in the $40s per barrel and as being competitive for capital within Chord’s development program. It also notes that the contiguous nature of the development spacing units and the overlap with its existing footprint support three- and four-mile lateral development. Expected near-term production and decline characteristics for the acquired assets are disclosed, along with management’s view that the transaction is expected to be accretive to various financial metrics and supportive of sustainable free cash flow and return of capital.
Risk management, guidance and disclosures
In its SEC filings and press releases, Chord Energy provides forward-looking guidance on production volumes, capital expenditures, operating costs and cash taxes under specified oil and gas price assumptions. It discusses potential adjustments to activity levels in response to macroeconomic conditions and commodity price volatility, while referencing operational and financial flexibility. The company also discloses non-cash items such as goodwill impairments when applicable and explains the drivers of such charges.
Chord Energy’s 8-K filings related to earnings releases specify that certain information, including attached press releases, is furnished rather than filed for purposes of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The company includes cautionary language regarding forward-looking statements and references to risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from expectations. Its filings also outline covenants and events of default associated with its senior notes, including limitations on additional indebtedness, liens, asset sales, restricted payments and other corporate actions, subject to defined exceptions.
Listing, jurisdiction and corporate information
Chord Energy Corporation’s common stock is listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC under the trading symbol CHRD, as disclosed in its Form 8-K filings. The company identifies Houston, Texas as its location in those filings. Chord Energy operates as a U.S.-based independent exploration and production company focused on unconventional, onshore, oil-rich resources in the continental United States, with its primary asset base in the Williston Basin.
FAQs about Chord Energy Corporation (CHRD)
- What does Chord Energy Corporation do?
Chord Energy Corporation is an independent exploration and production company that acquires, exploits, develops and explores crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company’s public materials emphasize quality, sustainable, long-lived assets primarily in the Williston Basin and unconventional, onshore, oil-rich resources in the continental United States. - Where are Chord Energy’s primary operations located?
According to its press releases, Chord Energy’s assets are primarily located in the Williston Basin. The company also reports natural gas volumes from the Marcellus, but describes its core position and long-lived assets as being in the Williston Basin. - On which exchange does Chord Energy trade and what is its ticker symbol?
Form 8-K filings state that Chord Energy Corporation’s common stock is listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC under the trading symbol CHRD. - How does Chord Energy describe its financial and capital priorities?
Chord Energy’s public communications highlight rigorous capital discipline, a focus on generating free cash flow, and maintaining what it describes as a strong or best-in-class balance sheet. The company discloses a return of capital framework tied to Adjusted Free Cash Flow and net leverage levels, and reports base dividends and share repurchases as key elements of its capital allocation. - What types of wells and development techniques does Chord Energy use?
Company updates describe the use of horizontal wells, including three- and four-mile laterals, in its Williston Basin development program. Chord Energy reports on drilling and completion performance for these long-lateral wells, including timing, costs relative to budget and early production results. - How does Chord Energy report its performance?
In quarterly press releases and related Form 8-K filings, Chord Energy reports production volumes for crude oil, NGLs and natural gas, total production on a barrels of oil equivalent basis, and financial metrics such as net cash provided by operating activities and net income or loss. It also presents non-GAAP measures, including Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Free Cash Flow and Adjusted Net Income, with reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measures. - What is Chord Energy’s approach to acquisitions?
Chord Energy has disclosed strategic acquisitions of oil and gas assets in the Williston Basin, including a transaction with XTO Energy Inc. and affiliates. The company describes these deals as adding core acreage, extending its inventory of long-lateral development locations and offering breakeven economics that are competitive within its program. - How does Chord Energy manage its debt and liquidity?
The company’s filings describe a senior secured revolving credit facility with elected commitments and a borrowing base, as well as senior unsecured notes with defined maturities and interest rates. Chord Energy has used proceeds from note offerings to fund acquisitions and to redeem or refinance existing notes and repay borrowings under its credit facility. It also discloses liquidity metrics that include available capacity under the revolver and cash and cash equivalents. - What cost and efficiency metrics does Chord Energy emphasize?
Chord Energy regularly reports lease operating expense per barrel of oil equivalent, gathering, processing and transportation expense, production taxes as a percentage of oil, NGL and natural gas sales, and cash general and administrative expense. It discusses efforts to reduce downtime, improve drilling and completion efficiency and optimize facilities to support higher free cash flow. - Does Chord Energy provide forward-looking guidance?
Yes. In its earnings-related press releases, Chord Energy provides guidance ranges for future periods covering oil, NGL and natural gas volumes, total production, capital expenditures, operating cost metrics and cash taxes, under specified oil and gas price assumptions. The company accompanies this guidance with cautionary language regarding forward-looking statements and references to risks and uncertainties.