With technological advances and ample runway in the Barnett Shale, BKV Corp. sees “a lot of meat left on the bone by the early pioneers,” an executive for the undisputed industry refrac leader says.

Speaking during Hart Energy’s 2025 DUG Gas Conference & Expo in Shreveport, Louisiana, BKV Upstream President Eric Jacobsen said the company has more than 15 years of refrac and new drilling inventory in the Barnett. That includes roughly 2,100 refrac locations and about 620 horizontal locations, according to the company’s latest investor presentation.

Initial frac designs left between 200 ft and 500 ft between perforation clusters when the Barnett’s early pioneers were active, he said. Most operators are now between 30 ft and 50 ft between perf clusters.

“We’re able to go in with the tubing and perf guns, with bullheads, with some staging in the heel sections and in the curve where there was no frac before, and deliver really solid results for half a million dollars a job, adding a BCFe of incremental reserves at a 50 cent [per Mcfe] F&D [finding and development] rate,” Jacobsen said. “So, we’ve had really great success and you can turn these over quickly. … We can do them in a matter of a few days.”

Talk of refracs resurfaced as operators work to squeeze more resources from the ground, including from mature gas plays like the Barnett Shale. Natural gas producers are gearing up for growth mode as demand for LNG increases globally and energy consumers seek out cleaner-burning reliable and affordable alternatives for electricity generation. BKV, which also offers so-called “carbon sequestered gas” paired with carbon credits to offset CO2 emissions, is positioned to deliver on multiple fronts while remaining disciplined.

‘Reimagining’ the Barnett

Of BKV’s more than 2,000 refrac locations, about 380 are proved locations, according to the investor presentation.

The Barnett has come a long way since shale oil and gas pioneer George Mitchell developed hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling techniques there that led to a monumental boom in shale gas production.

“We’ve done so much to reimagine inventory at the Barnett. We’re enacting that now. … We’ve applied modern day drilling and fracking techniques and designs. We’ve rightsized downhole spacing. We’ve lowered costs dramatically. We’re hitting pads today for $550 a lateral foot,” Jacobsen said. “There’s a nice liquids exposure in the Barnett. The infrastructure is bought and paid for.”

He added, “We’ve renegotiated midstream incentive rates for new drills and refracs particularly in rich areas. We have very nice NRIs [net revenue interests]. We have a great kind of service sector niche there to keep costs low. We’ve lowered LOE [lease operating expenses] dramatically.”

Combined, those ingredients yield strong risk-adjusted returns, he said.

BKV’s refracs have a liquids content of about 45% and an average cost of $525,000 per job.

The company has about 525 long laterals remaining to drill in the Barnett. Its average lateral length for new drills is just under 2 miles.

“We’re drilling now 10,000-foot laterals, where the average in the Barnett was 4,000 feet. Just a week ago, we TD’ed a well where we took a 105-degree turn in lateral, and we’ll be drilling a U-shaped lateral for the months to come,” he said. “All of these things are reimagining how you develop the Barnett for lower costs and ultimately higher returns, and that’s what gives us confidence to continue to grow when price is justified.”

Golden Era

Like others, Jacobsen said BKV believes this is the “golden era of natural gas. … We’re pretty bullish on the strip of gas and where it is today and in ’26.”

As of March 26, the 12-month natural gas strip was about $4.798/MMBtu based on NYMEX futures contracts, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

That would be an improvement from 2024 when natural gas spot prices at the Henry Hub benchmark averaged $2.21 per MMBtu, a historic low, according to the EIA.

What’s different this time compared to gas cycles of the past is the demand equation, Jacobsen said. He referred to projections of more than 40 Bcf/d of North American gas demand by 2035, driven by LNG export and power generation growth.

“If you look at that plus 40 Bcf of demand, I think there will be many cycles within that—kind of like what we see today with ‘25 and ‘26 above $4, then ‘27 a little less. But we think the trajectory for demand and growth is up and to the right.”

That favorable demand outlook doesn’t necessarily mean an immediate production ramp-up. Disciplined producers want to return cash flow without the “profitless prosperity and growing for the sake of growing” seen a decade ago.

“We’re in that camp of wanting to be disciplined and still return free cash and when price is constructed in the $3.50 to $4 range and $4-plus we can grow production and have plans to do so and still return cash flow,” Jacobsen said.

BKV also still has an appetite for M&A, he added. The company has consistently grown its acreage position in the basin with notable acquisitions that included the 2022 purchase of Barnett upstream and midstream assets from Exxon Mobil subsidiaries XTO Energy and Barnett Gathering. The purchase followed BKV’s 2020 entry into Texas with its purchase of Barnett assets from Devon Energy.

Not limited to oil and gas, BKV has also been acquiring natural gas-fueled power plants and related infrastructure through its joint venture with Banpu Power US Corp.

“We have the dry powder to deliver that in our company. We have very low debt,” he said. “If you look at our net debt to ‘25 estimated EBITDA, it’s less than 0.5. … We have the appetite. We have the scale. I think we are the absolute natural consolidator in the Barnett.”

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