Natural Gas Is Feeding AI Data Centers. A $50 Billion Deal Proves It. — Barrons.com

What happened

EQT said it would buy Range Resources in an all-stock deal. The combined company would have an enterprise value above $50 billion, produce over 9 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent a day across the Appalachian Basin, and hold more than 30 years of inventory.

Confirmed

Global impact / market context

Tech companies need huge, steady gas supplies for artificial-intelligence data centers, and power grid connection delays push developers toward gas. A larger EQT could supply that fuel for decades, which may support its revenue and strengthen its bargaining position with power and data center buyers.

Analyst inference

The deal combines two Appalachian gas producers into the largest vertically integrated U.S. natural gas producer, meaning it controls more steps from drilling to delivery. Range shareholders get 0.987 EQT shares each, a 21% premium to the latest close, while EQT stock fell 4.2% premarket.

Analyst inference

What to watch

1. Range Resources shareholders will receive 0.987 shares of EQT for each of their shares, which implies a value of $54.91 per Range share and a 21% premium to its latest close. Confirmed
2. The companies plan to combine into the largest vertically integrated U.S. natural gas producer, which means one business would control more of the steps from drilling gas to delivering it to customers. Proposed
3. Watch whether the over 30 years of inventory EQT secures is enough to win long-term supply contracts with data center developers, since that gas demand is the deal's stated rationale. Analyst inference

Evidence

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