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Leases

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2024

(12) Leases

The Company leases certain office space, processing plants, drilling rigs and completion services, gas gathering lines, compressor stations, and other office and field equipment. Leases with an initial term of 12 months or less are considered short-term and are not recorded on the balance sheet. Instead, the short-term leases are recognized in expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

Most leases include one or more options to renew, with renewal terms that can extend the lease from one to 20 years or more. The exercise of the lease renewal options is at the Company’s sole discretion. The depreciable lives of the leased assets are limited by the expected lease term, unless there is a transfer of title or purchase option reasonably certain of exercise.

Certain of the Company’s lease agreements include minimum payments based on a percentage of produced volumes over contractual levels and others include rental payments adjusted periodically for inflation.

The Company considers all contracts that have assets specified in the contract, either explicitly or implicitly, that the Company has substantially all of the capacity of the asset, and has the right to obtain substantially all of the economic benefits of that asset, without the lessor’s ability to have a substantive right to substitute that asset, as leased assets. For any contract deemed to include a leased asset, that asset is capitalized on the balance sheet as a right-of-use asset and a corresponding lease liability is recorded at the present value of the known future minimum payments of the contract using a discount rate on the date of commencement. The leased asset classification is determined at the date of recording as either operating or financing, depending upon certain criteria of the contract.

The discount rate used for present value calculations is the discount rate implicit in the contract. If an implicit rate is not determinable, a collateralized incremental borrowing rate is used at the date of commencement. As new leases commence or previous leases are modified the discount rate used in the present value calculation is the current period applicable discount rate.

The Company has made an accounting policy election to adopt the practical expedient for combining lease and non-lease components on an asset class basis. This expedient allows the Company to combine non-lease components such as real estate taxes, insurance, maintenance and other operating expenses associated with the leased premises with the lease component of a lease agreement on an asset class basis when the non-lease components of the agreement cannot be easily bifurcated from the lease payment. Currently, the Company is only applying this expedient to certain office space agreements.

(a)	Supplemental Balance Sheet Information Related to Leases

The Company’s lease assets and liabilities consisted of the following items (in thousands):


				(Unaudited)
		December 31,		September 30,
Leases	Balance Sheet Classification	2023		2024
Operating Leases
Operating lease right-of-use assets:
Processing plants	Operating lease right-of-use assets	$	1,611,903		1,425,273
Drilling rigs and completion services	Operating lease right-of-use assets		32,187		9,005
Gas gathering lines and compressor stations ⁽¹⁾	Operating lease right-of-use assets		1,283,668		1,189,000
Office space	Operating lease right-of-use assets		37,706		34,537
Office, field and other equipment	Operating lease right-of-use assets		416		473
Total operating lease right-of-use assets		$	2,965,880		2,658,288
Operating lease liabilities:
Short-term operating lease liabilities	Short-term lease liabilities	$	538,954		504,419
Long-term operating lease liabilities	Long-term lease liabilities		2,425,785		2,146,881
Total operating lease liabilities		$	2,964,739		2,651,300

Finance Leases
Finance lease right-of-use assets:
Vehicles	Other property and equipment	$	3,771		2,960
Total finance lease right-of-use assets ⁽²⁾		$	3,771		2,960
Finance lease liabilities:
Short-term finance lease liabilities	Short-term lease liabilities	$	1,106		1,233
Long-term finance lease liabilities	Long-term lease liabilities		2,665		1,727
Total finance lease liabilities		$	3,771		2,960

(1)	Gas gathering lines and compressor stations includes $1.3 billion and $1.2 billion related to Antero Midstream as of December 31, 2023 and September 30, 2024, respectively. See “—Related party lease disclosure” for additional discussion.

(2)	Financing lease assets are recorded net of accumulated amortization of $1 million and $2 million as of December 31, 2023 and September 30, 2024, respectively.

The processing plants, gathering lines and compressor stations that are classified as lease liabilities are classified as such under FASB ASC Topic 842, Leases, because Antero (i) is the sole customer of the assets and (ii) makes the decisions that most impact the economic performance of the assets.

(b)	Supplemental Information Related to Leases

Costs associated with operating and finance leases were included in the unaudited condensed consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive income (in thousands):


			Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
Cost	Classification	Location	2023		2024		2023		2024
Operating lease cost	Statement of operations	Gathering, compression, processing and transportation	$	418,005		435,308		1,206,733		1,283,302
Operating lease cost	Statement of operations	General and administrative		3,105		3,164		9,072		9,233
Operating lease cost	Statement of operations	Contract termination, loss contingency and settlements		297		—		4,227		—
Operating lease cost	Statement of operations	Lease operating		21		28		63		76
Operating lease cost	Balance sheet	Proved properties ⁽¹⁾		40,543		30,864		111,915		92,990
Total operating lease cost			$	461,971		469,364		1,332,010		1,385,601

Finance lease cost:
Amortization of right-of-use assets	Statement of operations	Depletion, depreciation and amortization	$	464		405		1,102		1,253
Interest on lease liabilities	Statement of operations	Interest expense		165		125		441		410
Total finance lease cost			$	629		530		1,543		1,663

Short-term lease payments			$	31,324		26,636		103,732		84,307

(1)	Capitalized costs related to drilling and completion activities.

(c)	Supplemental Cash Flow Information Related to Leases

The following table presents the Company’s supplemental cash flow information related to leases (in thousands):


	Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2023		2024
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities:
Operating cash flows from operating leases	$	1,023,385		1,098,799
Operating cash flows from finance leases		441		410
Investing cash flows from operating leases		95,480		78,275
Financing cash flows from finance leases		580		811

Noncash activities:
Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for new operating lease obligations	$	80,969		97,720
Increase (decrease) to existing right-of-use assets and lease obligations from operating lease modifications, net ⁽¹⁾	$	12,640		(1,472)

(1)

During the nine months ended September 30, 2023, the weighted average discount rate for remeasured operating leases increased from 5.1% as of December 31, 2022 to 5.8% as of September 30, 2023. During the nine months ended September 30, 2024, the weighted average discount rate for remeasured operating leases decreased from 6.5% as of December 31, 2023 to 6.0% as of September 30, 2024.

(d)	Maturities of Lease Liabilities

The table below is a schedule of future minimum payments for operating and financing lease liabilities as of September 30, 2024 (in thousands):


	Operating Leases		Financing Leases		Total
Remainder of 2024	$	173,056		407		173,463
2025		617,297		1,585		618,882
2026		564,792		1,230		566,022
2027		465,588		197		465,785
2028		388,734		23		388,757
Thereafter		943,071		10		943,081
Total lease payments		3,152,538		3,452		3,155,990
Less: imputed interest		(501,238)		(492)		(501,730)
Total	$	2,651,300		2,960		2,654,260

(e)	Lease Term and Discount Rate

The following table sets forth the Company’s weighted average remaining lease term and discount rate:


	December 31, 2023				September 30, 2024
	Operating Leases		Finance Leases		Operating Leases		Finance Leases
Weighted average remaining lease term	6.5 years		3.0 years		6.2 years		2.3 years
Weighted average discount rate	5.9	%	8.3	%	5.7	%	8.4	%

(f)	Related Party Lease Disclosure

The Company has gathering and compression service agreements with Antero Midstream that include: (i) the second amended and restated gathering and compression agreement dated December 8, 2019 (the “2019 gathering and compression agreement”), (ii) a gathering and compression agreement from Antero Midstream’s acquisition in 2022 of certain Marcellus gathering and compression assets in an area of dedication (the “Marcellus gathering and compression agreement”) and (iii) a compression agreement from Antero Midstream’s acquisition in 2022 of certain Utica compressors (the “Utica compression agreement” and (iv) a gathering and compression agreement from Antero Midstream’s acquisition in the second quarter of 2024 of certain central Marcellus gathering and compression assets (the “Mountaineer gathering and compression agreement,” and together with the 2019 gathering and compression agreement, Marcellus gathering and compression agreement and the Utica compression agreement, the “gathering and compression agreements”). Pursuant to the gathering and compression agreements with Antero Midstream, the Company has dedicated substantially all of its current and future acreage in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania to Antero Midstream for gathering and compression services. The 2019 gathering and compression agreement, Marcellus gathering and compression agreement and Mountaineer gathering and compression agreement have initial terms through 2038, 2031 and 2026, respectively, and the Utica compression agreement has two dedicated areas that expire in 2024 and 2030. Upon expiration of the Marcellus gathering and compression agreement, the Utica compression agreement and the Mountaineer gathering and compression agreement, Antero Midstream will continue to provide gathering and compression services under the 2019 gathering and compression agreement.

Under the gathering and compression agreements, Antero Midstream receives a low pressure gathering fee per Mcf, a high pressure gathering fee per Mcf and a compression fee per Mcf, as applicable, subject to annual Consumer Price Index (“CPI”)-based adjustments. If and to the extent the Company requests that Antero Midstream construct new low pressure lines, high pressure lines and compressor stations, the 2019 gathering and compression agreement contains options at Antero Midstream’s election for either (i) minimum volume commitments that require Antero Resources to utilize or pay for 75% of the high pressure gathering capacity and 70% of the compression capacity of the requested capacity of such new construction for 10 years or (ii) a cost of service fee that allows the Antero Midstream to earn a 13% rate of return on such new construction over seven years. The Marcellus gathering and compression agreement provides for a minimum volume commitment that requires the Company to utilize or pay for 25% of the compression capacity for a period of 10 years from the in-service date. The Mountaineer gathering and compression agreement provides for monthly minimum compression and gathering fees for each compressor station or high pressure gathering line, respectively, for a period of 12 years commencing 90 days after such asset’s in-service date. As of September 30, 2024, the minimum volume commitments for the 2019 gathering and compression

agreement and Marcellus gathering and compression agreement end in 2034 and 2024, respectively, and the minimum compression and gathering fees for the Mountaineer gathering and compression agreement end in 2026.

The 2019 gathering and compression agreement included a growth incentive fee program that expired on December 31, 2023 whereby low pressure gathering fees were reduced from 2020 through 2023 to the extent the Company achieved certain quarterly volumetric targets. The Company’s throughput gathered under the Marcellus gathering and compression agreement was not considered in the low pressure gathering volume targets. The Company earned fee rebates of $12 million and $36 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, respectively.

Upon completion of the initial contract term, the 2019 gathering and compression agreement will continue in effect from year to year until such time as the agreement is terminated, effective upon an anniversary of the effective date of the agreement, by notice from either the Company or Antero Midstream to the other party on or before the 180th day prior to the anniversary of such agreement.

Gathering and compression fees paid by the Company related to these agreements were $189 million and $207 million for the three months ended September 30, 2023 and 2024, respectively. For the nine months ended September 30, 2023 and 2024, gathering and compression fees paid by the Company related to this agreement were $550 million and $608 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2023 and September 30, 2024, $65 million and $77 million, respectively, was included within accounts payable, related parties on the condensed consolidated balance sheets as due to Antero Midstream related to these agreements.