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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

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FORM 10-K

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Commission File No. 001-36120

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(303) 357-7310

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

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Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None.

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Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. ◻ Yes ⌧ No

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. ◻ Yes ⌧ No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. ⌧ Yes ◻ No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). ⌧ Yes ◻ No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b 2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). ☐ Yes ⌧ No

The aggregate market value of the voting common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 28, 2019, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was approximately $1.5 billion based on the $5.53 per share closing price of Antero Resources Corporation’s common stock as reported on that day on the New York Stock Exchange

The registrant had 286,677,115 shares of common stock outstanding as of February 7, 2020.

Documents incorporated by reference: Portions of the registrant’s proxy statement for its annual meeting of stockholders to be filed pursuant to Regulation 14A within 120 days after the registrant’s fiscal year end are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Some of the information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). All statements, other than statements of historical fact included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, regarding our strategy, future operations, financial position, estimated revenues and losses, projected costs, prospects, plans and objectives of management are forward looking statements. Words such as “may,” “assume,” “forecast,” “position,” “predict,” “strategy,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “project,” “budget,” “potential,” or “continue,” and similar expressions are used to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions about future events and are based on currently available information as to the outcome and timing of future events. When considering these forward-looking statements, investors should keep in mind the risk factors and other cautionary statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current belief, based on currently available information, as to the outcome and timing of future events. Factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the results contemplated by such forward-looking statements include:

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We caution investors that these forward-looking statements are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties incidental to our business, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control. These risks include, but are not limited to, commodity price volatility, inflation, availability of drilling, completion, and production equipment and services, environmental risks, drilling and completion and other operating risks, marketing and transportation risks, regulatory changes, the uncertainty inherent in estimating natural gas, NGLs, and oil reserves and in projecting future rates of production, cash flows and access to capital, the timing of development expenditures, conflicts of interest among our stockholders, and the other risks described under the heading “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Reserve engineering is a process of estimating underground accumulations of natural gas, NGLs, and oil that cannot be measured in an exact manner. The accuracy of any reserve estimate depends on the quality of available data, the interpretation of such data, and the price and cost assumptions made by reservoir engineers. In addition, the results of drilling, testing, and production activities, or changes in commodity prices, may justify revisions of estimates that were made previously. If significant, such revisions would change the schedule of any further production and development drilling. Accordingly, reserve estimates may differ significantly from the quantities of natural gas, NGLs, and oil that are ultimately recovered.

Should one or more of the risks or uncertainties described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K occur, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results and plans could differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements.

All forward-looking statements, expressed or implied, included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. This cautionary statement should also be considered in connection with any subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements that we or persons acting on our behalf may issue.

Except as otherwise required by applicable law, we disclaim any duty to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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GLOSSARY OF COMMONLY USED TERMS

The following are abbreviations and definitions of certain terms used in this document, some of which are commonly used in the oil and gas industry:

“Basin.” A large natural depression on the earth’s surface in which sediments, generally brought by water, accumulate.

“Bbl.” One stock tank barrel, of 42 U.S. gallons liquid volume, used herein in reference to crude oil, condensate, NGLs, or water.

“Bbl/d.” Bbl per day.

“Bcf.” One billion cubic feet of natural gas.

“Bcfe.” One billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent with one barrel of oil, condensate, or NGLs converted to six thousand cubic feet of natural gas.

“Btu.” British thermal unit.

“C3+ NGLs.” Natural gas liquids excluding ethane, consisting primarily of propane, isobutane, normal butane, and natural gasoline.

“Completion.” The process of treating a drilled well followed by the installation of permanent equipment for the production of natural gas or oil, or in the case of a dry hole, the reporting of abandonment to the appropriate agency.

“DD&A.” Depletion, depreciation, and amortization.

“Delineation.” The process of placing a number of wells in various parts of a reservoir to determine its boundaries and production characteristics.

“Developed acreage.” The number of acres that are allocated or assignable to productive wells or wells capable of production.

“Development well.” A well drilled within the proved area of an oil or natural gas reservoir to the depth of a stratigraphic horizon known to be productive.

“Dry hole.” A well found to be incapable of producing hydrocarbons in sufficient quantities such that proceeds from the sale of such production exceed production expenses and taxes.

“EPA.” United States Environmental Protection Agency.

“Exploratory well.” A well drilled to find and produce natural gas or oil reserves not classified as proved, to find a new reservoir in a field previously found to be productive of natural gas or oil in another reservoir, or to extend a known reservoir.

“Field.” An area consisting of a single reservoir or multiple reservoirs all grouped on, or related to, the same individual geological structural feature or stratigraphic condition. The field name refers to the surface area, although it may refer to both the surface and the underground productive formations.

“Formation.” A layer of rock which has distinct characteristics that differs from nearby rock.

“Gross acres or gross wells.” The total acres or wells, as the case may be, in which a working interest is owned.

“Horizontal drilling.” A drilling technique used in certain formations where a well is drilled vertically to a certain depth and then drilled at a right angle within a specified interval.

“Joint Venture.” The joint venture entered into on February 6, 2017 between Antero Midstream Partners LP, a wholly owned subsidiary of Antero Midstream and MarkWest Energy Partners, L.P. (“MarkWest”), a wholly owned subsidiary of MPLX, LP (“MPLX”), to develop processing and fractionation assets in Appalachia.

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“Liquids-rich.” Natural gas with a heating value of at least 1,100 Btu per Mcf.

“MMBbl.” One million barrels of crude oil, condensate or NGLs.

“MMBtu.” One million British thermal units.

“MMBtu/d.” MMBtu per day.

“MMcf.” One million cubic feet of natural gas.

“MMcf/d.” MMcf per day.

“MMcfe.” One million cubic feet of natural gas equivalent with one barrel of oil, condensate or NGLs converted to six thousand cubic feet of natural gas.

“MMcfe/d.” MMcfe per day.

“NGLs.” Natural gas liquids. Hydrocarbons found in natural gas that may be extracted as purity products such as ethane, propane, isobutane and normal butane, and natural gasoline.

“NYMEX.” The New York Mercantile Exchange.

“Net acres.” The percentage of total acres an owner has out of a particular number of acres, or a specified tract. An owner who has 50% working interest in 100 acres owns 50 net acres.

“Net well.” The percentage ownership interest in a well that an owner has based on the working interest. An owner who has a 50% working interest in a well has a 0.50 net well.

“Potential well locations.” Total gross locations that we may be able to drill on our existing acreage. Actual drilling activities may change depending on the availability of capital, regulatory approvals, seasonal restrictions, natural gas, NGLs, and oil prices, costs, drilling results, and other factors.

“Productive well.” A well that is found to be capable of producing hydrocarbons in sufficient quantities such that proceeds from the sale of the production exceed production expenses and taxes.

“Prospect.” A specific geographic area which, based on supporting geological, geophysical, or other data, and also preliminary economic analysis using reasonably anticipated prices and costs, is deemed to have potential for the discovery of commercial hydrocarbons.

“Proved developed reserves.” Reserves that can be expected to be recovered through existing wells with existing equipment and operating methods.

“Proved reserves.” The estimated quantities of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids that geological and engineering data demonstrate with reasonable certainty to be commercially recoverable in future years from known reservoirs under existing economic and operating conditions.

“Proved undeveloped reserves (or “PUD”).” Proved reserves that are expected to be recovered from new wells on undrilled acreage or from existing wells where a relatively major expenditure is required for recompletion.

“PV-10.” When used with respect to oil and gas reserves, PV-10 means the estimated future gross revenue to be generated from the production of proved reserves, net of estimated production, future development, and abandonment costs, using average

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yearly prices computed using Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) rules, before income taxes, and without giving effect to non-property-related expenses, discounted to a present value using an annual discount rate of 10% in accordance with the guidelines of the SEC. PV-10 is not a financial measure calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and generally differs from Standardized measure, the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, because it does not include the effects of income taxes on future net revenues. Neither PV-10 nor Standardized measure represents an estimate of the fair market value of our natural gas and oil properties. We and others in the industry use PV-10 as a measure to compare the relative size and value of proved reserves held by companies without regard to the specific tax characteristics of such entities.

“Reservoir.” A porous and permeable underground formation containing a natural accumulation of producible oil and/or natural gas that is confined by impermeable rock or water barriers and is separate from other reservoirs.

“Spacing.” The distance between wells producing from the same reservoir. Spacing is often expressed in terms of acres, e.g., 40-acre spacing, or distance between two horizontal well legs, and is often established by regulatory agencies.

“Standardized measure.” Discounted future net cash flows estimated by applying year-end prices to the estimated future production of year-end proved reserves. Future cash inflows are reduced by estimated future production and development costs based on period-end costs to determine pre-tax cash inflows. Future income taxes, if applicable, are computed by applying the statutory tax rate to the excess of pre-tax cash inflows over our tax basis in the natural gas and oil properties. Future net cash inflows after income taxes are discounted using a 10% annual discount rate.

“Strip prices.” The daily settlement prices of commodity futures contracts, such as those for natural gas, NGLs, and oil. Strip prices represent the prices at which a given commodity can be sold at specified future dates, which may not represent actual market prices available upon such date in the future.

“Tcf.” One trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

“Tcfe.” One trillion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent with one barrel of oil, condensate, or NGLs converted to six thousand cubic feet of natural gas.

“Undeveloped acreage.” Lease acreage on which wells have not been drilled or completed to a point that would permit the production of commercial quantities of natural gas, NGLs, and oil regardless of whether such acreage contains proved reserves.

“Working interest.” The right granted to the lessee of a property to explore for and to produce and own natural gas or other minerals. The working interest owners bear the exploration, development, and operating costs on either a cash, penalty, or carried basis.

“WTI.” West Texas Intermediate light sweet crude oil.

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Our management team has worked together for many years and has a successful track record of reserve and production growth as well as significant expertise in unconventional resource plays. Our strategy is to leverage our team’s experience delineating and developing natural gas resource plays to profitably grow our reserves and production, primarily on our existing multi-year project inventory.

We have assembled a portfolio of long-lived properties that are characterized by what we believe to be low geologic risk and repeatability. Our drilling opportunities are focused in the Marcellus Shale and Utica Shale of the Appalachian Basin. We have 2,385 potential horizontal well locations on our existing leasehold acreage within our proved, probable, and possible reserve categories.

We have secured sufficient long-term firm takeaway capacity on major pipelines in each of our core operating areas to accommodate our current development plans.

We operate in the following industry segments: (i) the exploration, development, and production of natural gas, NGLs, and oil; (ii) marketing of excess firm transportation capacity; and (iii) the gathering and processing of natural gas through our equity method investment in Antero Midstream Corporation. As described above and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, effective March 13, 2019, the results of Antero Midstream Partners are no longer consolidated in our results. See Note 18 to the consolidated financial statements for further discussion on our industry segment operations.

2019 and Recent Developments and Highlights

Reserves, Production, and Financial Results

As of December 31, 2019, our estimated proved reserves were 18.9 Tcfe, consisting of 11.5 Tcf of natural gas, 652 MMBbl of ethane, 540 MMBbl of C3+ NGLs, and 42 MMBbl of oil. As of December 31, 2019, 61% of our estimated proved reserves by volume were natural gas, 38% were NGLs, and 1% was oil. Proved developed reserves were 11.7 Tcfe, or 62% of total proved reserves.

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For the year ended December 31, 2019, our net production totaled 1,175 Bcfe, or 3,220 MMcfe per day, a 19% increase compared to 989 Bcfe, or 2,709 MMcfe per day, for the year ended December 31, 2018. Production growth resulted from an increase in the number of producing wells as a result of our drilling and completion activity. Our average price received for production, before the effects of gains on settled commodity derivatives, for the year ended December 31, 2019 was $3.10 per Mcfe compared to $3.69 per Mcfe for the year ended December 31, 2018. Our average realized price after the effects of gains on settled commodity derivatives was $3.38 per Mcfe for the year ended December 31, 2019 as compared to $3.94 per Mcfe for the year ended December 31, 2018.

For the year ended December 31, 2019, we generated consolidated cash flows from operations of $1.1 billion, a consolidated net loss of $340 million and Adjusted EBITDAX of $1.2 billion. This compares to cash flows from operations of $2.1 billion, a consolidated net loss of $398 million, Adjusted EBITDAX of $1.7 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018. See “Item 6. Selected Financial Data” for a definition of Adjusted EBITDAX (a non-GAAP measure) and a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDAX to net income (loss).

Consolidated net loss for 2019 included (i) commodity derivative fair value gains of $464 million, comprised of gains on settled derivatives of $325 million and a non-cash gain of $139 million on changes in the fair value of commodity derivatives, (ii) a non-cash charge of $24 million for equity-based compensation, (iii) a non-cash charge of $1.3 billion for impairments of oil and gas properties, (iv) a non-cash charge of $468 million for an impairment of equity investments and (v) a non-cash deferred tax benefit of $79 million.

2019 Capital Spending and 2020 Capital Budget

For the year ended December 31, 2019, our total consolidated capital expenditures were approximately $1.4 billion, including drilling and completion expenditures of $1.3 billion, leasehold additions of $89 million, gathering and compression expenditures of $48 million, water handling and treatment expenditures of $24 million, and other capital expenditures of $7 million. Our capital budget for 2020 is $1.2 billion. Our budget includes: $1.15 billion for drilling and completion and $50 million for leasehold expenditures. We do not budget for acquisitions. During 2020, we plan to operate an average of four drilling rigs and three to four completion crews and we plan to complete 120 to 130 horizontal wells in the Marcellus and Utica Shales in 2020. We periodically review our capital expenditures and adjust our budget and its allocation based on liquidity, drilling results, leasehold acquisition opportunities, and commodity prices.

Furthermore, in December 2019, we announced an asset sale program pursuant to which we expect to execute between $750 million and $1.0 billion asset monetization opportunities through 2020, which can include dispositions of lease acreage, minerals, producing properties or our shares of Antero Midstream common stock, or hedge restructuring. We expect to use the proceeds from this program to reduce indebtedness. We initiated this program by selling $100 million of our shares of Antero Midstream common stock in December 2019 to Antero Midstream.

Hedge Position

At December 31, 2019, we had fixed price swap contracts in place for January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2023 for 1.7 Tcf of our projected natural gas production at a weighted average index price of $2.84 per MMBtu. These hedging contracts include contracts for the year ending December 31, 2020 of 815 Bcf of natural gas at a weighted average price of $2.87 per MMBtu. We also have fixed price swaps for NGLs and Oil for approximately 15 MMBbls for the year ending December 31, 2020 at weighted average index prices of $0.50 to $0.81 per gallon and $55.63 per Bbl, respectively. Additionally, we have basis swaps in place for January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2024 for 95 Bcf of our projected natural gas production with pricing differentials ranging from $0.35 to $0.53 per MMBtu. See Note 11 to the consolidated financial statements for more information on our current hedge position.

To the extent we have hedged the price of a portion of our estimated future production through 2024, we believe this hedge position provides some certainty to cash flows supporting our future operations and capital spending plans. As of December 31, 2019, the estimated fair value of our commodity net derivative contracts was approximately $746 million.

Credit Facility

At December 31, 2019, the borrowing base under our senior secured revolving credit facility (the “Credit Facility”) was $4.5 billion and lender commitments were $2.64 billion. The maturity date of the Credit Facility is the earlier of (i) October 26, 2022 and (ii) the date that is 91 days prior to the earliest stated redemption date of any series of Antero’s senior notes then outstanding. The borrowing base under the Credit Facility is redetermined annually and is based on the estimated future cash flows from our proved oil and gas reserves and our commodity derivative positions. The next redetermination is scheduled to occur in April 2020. At

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December 31, 2019, we had $552 million of borrowings, with a weighted average interest rate of 3.28%, and $623 million of letters of credit outstanding under the revolving credit facility. See “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Debt Agreements and Contractual Obligations—Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility” for a description of the Credit Facility.

Debt Repurchase Program

During the fourth quarter of 2019, we repurchased $225 million principal amount of debt at a 17% weighted average discount, including a portion of our 5.375% senior notes due November 1, 2021 (the “2021 notes”) and our 5.125% senior notes due December 1, 2022 (the “2022 notes”). As of December 31, 2019, we have $952.5 million in aggregate principal amount outstanding of our 2021 notes and $923.0 million in aggregate principal amount outstanding of our 2022 notes.  See Note 7 to the consolidated financial statements for more information on long-term debt.

Share Repurchase Program

In October 2018, our Board of Directors authorized a $600 million share repurchase program through March 31, 2020. During the year ended December 31, 2019, we repurchased 13.4 million shares of our common stock (approximately 4% of total shares outstanding at commencement of the program) at a total cost of approximately $39 million. See “Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities—Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.”

Our Properties and Operations

Estimated Proved Reserves

The information with respect to our estimated proved reserves presented below has been prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).

Reserves Presentation

The following table summarizes our estimated proved reserves, related Standardized measure, and PV-10 at December 31, 2017, 2018 and 2019. The decrease in pre-tax estimated proved reserves PV-10 value as compared to 2018, was due primarily to lower SEC pricing and the deconsolidation of Antero Midstream Partners from Antero Resources’ financial statements. The deconsolidation resulted in Antero Resources recording the full fees paid to Antero Midstream Partners for services rendered and no longer recording the capital expenditures associated with Antero Midstream Partners. Prior to deconsolidation, Antero Resources’ consolidated reserves included the elimination of full fees paid by Antero Resources to Antero Midstream Partners and the inclusion of the operating costs and capital associated with Antero Midstream Partners.

Our estimated proved reserves are based on evaluations prepared by our internal reserve engineers, which have been audited by our independent engineers, DeGolyer and MacNaughton (“D&M”). We refer to D&M as our independent engineers. A copy of the summary report of D&M with respect to our reserves at December 31, 2019 is filed as Exhibit 99.1 to this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Within D&M, the technical person primarily responsible for reviewing our reserves estimates was Gregory K. Graves, P.E. Mr. Graves is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas (License No. 70734), is a member of both the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers, and has in excess of 34 years of experience in oil and gas reservoir studies and reserves evaluations. Mr. Graves graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering. Reserves at December 31, 2017, 2018 and 2019 were prepared assuming partial ethane recovery, and rejection of the remaining ethane. When ethane is rejected at the processing plant, it is left in the gas stream and sold with the methane gas.

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The following sets forth the estimated future net cash flows from our proved reserves (without giving effect to our commodity derivatives), the present value of those net cash flows before income tax (PV-10), the present value of those net cash flows after income tax (Standardized measure) and the prices used in projecting future net cash flows at December 31, 2017, 2018 and 2019:

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Future net cash flows represent projected revenues from the sale of proved reserves net of production and development costs (including operating expenses and production taxes). Prices for 2017, 2018 and 2019 were based on 12-month unweighted average of the first-day-of-the-month pricing, without escalation. Costs are based on costs in effect for the applicable year without escalation. There can be no assurance that the proved reserves will be produced as estimated or that the prices and costs will remain constant. There are numerous uncertainties inherent in estimating reserves and related information, and different reservoir engineers often arrive at different estimates for the same properties.

Extensions, discoveries, and other additions of 3,705 Bcfe resulted from delineation and development drilling in both the Marcellus and Utica Shales. Included in the extensions are 1,202 Bcfe of volumes associated with a third party acreage trade. Upward revisions of 63 Bcfe related to well performance. Net downward revisions of 1,705 Bcfe related to optimization of our five-year development plan. This figure includes upward revisions of 595 Bcfe for previously proved undeveloped properties reclassified from non-proved properties at December 31, 2018 to proved undeveloped at December 31, 2019 due to their addition to our five-year development plan, and downward revisions of 2,300 Bcfe for locations that were not developed within five years of initial booking as proved reserves. Downward revisions of 157 Bcfe were due to decreases in prices for natural gas, NGLs, and oil. Downward revisions of 164 Bcfe were due to an increase in fee structure resulting from the deconsolidation of Antero Midstream Partners. Deconsolidation of Antero Midstream Partners resulted in Antero Resources recording the full fees paid to Antero Midstream Partners for services rendered and no longer including future capital expenditures associated with Antero Midstream Partners’ assets in future development costs. Prior to deconsolidation, Antero Resources’ consolidated reserves included the elimination of full fees paid by Antero Resources to Antero Midstream Partners and the inclusion of the operating costs and capital incurred by Antero Midstream Partners. Upward revisions of 315 Bcfe were due to an increase in our assumed future ethane recovery. Our estimated proved reserves as of December 31, 2019 totaled approximately 18,893 Bcfe, an increase of 5% from the prior year.

Extensions, discoveries, and other additions during 2019 of 3,433 Bcfe of proved undeveloped reserves resulted from delineation and developmental drilling in the Marcellus and Utica Shales. Included in the extensions are 1,173 Bcfe of volumes associated with a third party acreage trade. Upward revisions of 141 Bcfe related to well performance. Net downward revisions of 1,705 Bcfe related to optimization of our five-year development plan. This figure includes upward revisions of 595 Bcfe for previously proved undeveloped properties reclassified from non-proved properties at December 31, 2018 to proved undeveloped at December 31, 2019 due to their addition to our five-year development plan, and downward revisions of 2,300 Bcfe for locations that

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were not developed within five years of initial booking as proved reserves. Downward revisions of 30 Bcfe were due to decreases in prices for natural gas, NGLs, and oil. Downward revisions of 42 Bcfe were due to an increase in fee structure resulting from the deconsolidation of Antero Midstream Partners. Deconsolidation of Antero Midstream Partners resulted in Antero Resources recording the full fees paid to Antero Midstream Partners for services rendered and Antero Resources no longer including future capital expenditures associated with Antero Midstream Partners’ assets in future development costs. Prior to deconsolidation, Antero Resources’ consolidated reserves included the elimination of full fees paid by Antero Resources to Antero Midstream Partners and the inclusion of the operating costs and capital incurred by Antero Midstream Partners.

During the year ended December 31, 2019, we converted approximately 2,201 Bcfe, or 29%, of our proved undeveloped reserves to proved developed reserves at a total capital cost of approximately $788 million. We spent an additional $316 million on development costs related primarily to drilled and uncompleted wells and properties in the proved undeveloped classification at December 31, 2018, resulting in total development spending of $1.1 billion, as disclosed in Note 21 to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this report. Estimated future development costs relating to the development of our proved undeveloped reserves at December 31, 2019 are approximately $2.6 billion, or $0.37 per Mcfe, over the next five years. Based on strip pricing as of December 31, 2019, we believe that cash flows from operations will be sufficient to finance such future development costs. While we will continue to drill leasehold delineation wells and build on our current leasehold position, we will also continue drilling our proved undeveloped reserves. See “Item 1A. Risk Factors—The development of our estimated proved undeveloped reserves may take longer and may require higher levels of capital expenditures than we currently anticipate. Therefore, our estimated proved undeveloped reserves may not be ultimately developed or produced.”

We maintain a five-year development plan, which is reviewed by our Board of Directors, which supports our corporate production growth target. The development plan is reviewed annually to ensure capital is allocated to the wells that have the highest risk-adjusted rates of return within our inventory of undrilled well locations. As our well economics have changed, we have reallocated five-year capital to areas with expected highest rates of return and optimal lateral lengths. This resulted in the reclassification of 2,300 Bcfe of reserves from proved undeveloped to probable during the year ended December 31, 2019 due to the five-year development rule. Based on our then-current acreage position, strip prices, anticipated well economics, and our development plans at the time these reserves were classified as proved, we believe the previous classification of these locations as proved undeveloped was appropriate.

At December 31, 2019, an estimated 8,500 of our net leasehold acres, containing 227 locations associated with proved undeveloped reserves, are subject to renewal prior to scheduled drilling. Some of these leases have contract renewal options and some will need to be renegotiated. We estimate a potential cost of approximately $21 million to renew the 8,500 acres based upon current leasing authorizations and option to extend payments. Proved undeveloped reserves of 687 Bcfe are related to these leases. Historically, we have had a high success rate in renewing leases, and we expect that we will be able to renew substantially all of the leases underlying this acreage prior to the scheduled drilling dates. Based on our historical success rate in renewing leases, we estimate that we may not be able to renew leases covering approximately 103 Bcfe of these proved undeveloped reserves.

If we are not able to renew these leases prior to the scheduled drilling dates, our quantities of net proved undeveloped reserves will be somewhat reduced on those locations.

Preparation of Reserve Estimates

Our reserve estimates as of December 31, 2017, 2018 and 2019 included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K were prepared by our internal reserve engineers in accordance with petroleum engineering and evaluation standards published by the Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers and definitions and guidelines established by the SEC. Our internally prepared reserve estimates were audited by our independent reserve engineers. Our independent reserve engineers were selected for their historical experience and geographic expertise in engineering unconventional resources. The technical persons responsible for overseeing the audit of our reserve estimates presented herein meet the requirements regarding qualifications, independence, objectivity and confidentiality set forth in the Standards Pertaining to the Estimating and Auditing of Oil and Gas Reserves Information promulgated by the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

Our internal staff of petroleum engineers and geoscience professionals works closely with our independent reserve engineers to ensure the integrity, accuracy and timeliness of data furnished to our independent reserve engineers in their reserve auditing process. Periodically, our technical team meets with the independent reserve engineers to review properties and discuss methods and assumptions used by us to prepare reserve estimates. Our internally prepared reserve estimates and related reports are reviewed and approved by our Senior Vice President - Reserves, Planning and Midstream, W. Patrick Ash. Mr. Ash has served as Senior Vice President-Reserves, Planning and Midstream since June 2019. Previously, he served as Vice President of Reservoir Engineering and Planning from December 2017 to June 2019. Prior to December 2017, Mr. Ash was at Ultra Petroleum for six years in management

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positions of increasing responsibility, most recently serving as Vice President, Development. In this position he led the reservoir engineering, geoscience, and corporate engineering groups. From 2001 to 2011, Mr. Ash served in engineering roles at Devon Energy, NFR Energy and Encana Corporation. Mr. Ash holds a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University and an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis.

Our senior management also reviews our reserve estimates and related reports with Mr. Ash and other members of our technical staff. Additionally, our senior management reviews and approves any significant changes to our proved reserves on a quarterly basis.

Proved reserves are reserves that, by analysis of geoscience and engineering data, can be estimated with reasonable certainty to be economically producible from a given date forward from known reservoirs under existing economic conditions, operating methods, and government regulations prior to the time at which contracts providing the right to operate expire, unless evidence indicates that renewal is reasonably certain. The term “reasonable certainty” implies a high degree of confidence that the quantities of oil or natural gas actually recovered will equal or exceed the estimate. To achieve reasonable certainty, we and the independent reserve engineers employed technologies that have been demonstrated to yield results with consistency and repeatability. The technologies and economic data used in the estimation of our proved reserves include, but are not limited to, well logs, geologic maps and available downhole and production data, micro-seismic data, and well-test data. Probable reserves are reserves that are less certain to be recovered than proved reserves but that, together with proved reserves, are as likely as not to be recovered. Estimates of probable reserves that may potentially be recoverable through additional drilling or recovery techniques are, by nature, more uncertain than estimates of proved reserves and, accordingly, are subject to substantially greater risk of realization. Possible reserves are reserves that are less certain to be recovered than probable reserves. Estimates of possible reserves are also inherently imprecise. Estimates of probable and possible reserves are also continually subject to revisions based on production history, results of additional exploration and development, price changes, and other factors.

Methodology Used to Apply Reserve Definitions

In the Marcellus Shale, our estimated reserves are based on information from our large, operated proved developed producing reserve base, as well as information from other operators in the area, which can be used to confirm or supplement our internal estimates. Typically, proved undeveloped properties are booked based on applying the estimated lateral length to the average wellhead Bcf per 1,000 feet from our proved developed producing wells, then converting to a processed volume where applicable.

We may attribute up to 11 proved undeveloped locations based on one proved developed producing well where analysis of geologic and engineering data can be estimated with reasonable certainty to be commercially recoverable. However, the ratio of proved undeveloped locations generated will be lower when multiple proved developed wells are drilled on a single pad. In addition, we have applied the concept of a statistically proven area to certain areas of our Marcellus Shale acreage whereby undeveloped properties are booked as proved reserves so long as well count is sufficient for statistical analysis and certain land, geologic, engineering and commercial criteria are met.

Although our operating history in the Utica Shale is more limited than our Marcellus Shale operations, we expect to be able to apply a similar methodology once the well count is sufficient for statistical analysis. The primary differences between the two areas are that (i) we have not established a statistically proven area in the Utica Shale and (ii) each proved developed producing well in the Utica Shale only generates four direct offset well locations due to less relative maturity of the play.

Identification of Potential Well Locations

Our identified potential well locations represent locations to which proved, probable, or possible reserves were attributable based on SEC pricing as of December 31, 2019. We prepare internal estimates of probable and possible reserves but have not included disclosure of such reserves in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Production, Revenues, and Price History

Because natural gas, NGLs, and oil are commodities, the prices that we receive for our production are largely a function of market supply and demand. While demand for natural gas in the United States has increased materially since 2000, natural gas and NGLs supplies have also increased significantly as a result of horizontal drilling and fracture stimulation technologies which have been used to find and recover large amounts of oil and gas from various shale formations throughout the United States. Demand is impacted by general economic conditions, weather, and other seasonal conditions. Over or under supply of natural gas, NGLs, or oil can result in substantial price volatility. A substantial or extended decline in commodity prices, or poor drilling results, could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations, cash flows, quantities of reserves that may be economically

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produced, and our ability to access capital markets. See “Item 1A. Risk Factors— Natural gas, NGLs, and oil price volatility, or a substantial or prolonged period of low natural gas, NGLs, and oil prices, may adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations and our ability to meet our capital expenditure obligations and financial commitments.”

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Productive Wells

As of December 31, 2019, we held interests in a total of 1,238 gross (1,148.2 net) producing wells on our Marcellus Shale acreage, including the following:

As of December 31, 2019, we held interests in a total of 244 gross (206.3 net) producing wells on our Ohio Utica Shale acreage, including the following:

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Additionally, at December 31, 2019, we had 19 net horizontal proved developed non-producing wells, and 68 gross horizontal wells (65.5 net) that were drilled and uncompleted or in the process of being completed. The shallow vertical wells and wells operated by other producers were primarily acquired in conjunction with leasehold acreage acquisitions.

The following table provides a summary of our current gross and net acreage by county in the Marcellus Shale and the Ohio Utica Shale in which we own an interest as of December 31, 2019.

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Undeveloped Acreage Expirations

The following table sets forth our total gross and net undeveloped acres as of December 31, 2019 that will expire over the next three years unless production is established within the spacing units covering the acreage prior to the expiration dates, or unless the leases containing such acreage are extended or renewed.

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The figures in the table above do not include 68 gross wells (65 net) that were drilled and uncompleted or in the process of being completed at December 31, 2019.

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Delivery Commitments

We have entered into various firm sales contracts to deliver and sell gas and NGLs. We believe we will have sufficient production quantities to meet substantially all of such commitments. We may purchase gas from third parties to satisfy shortfalls should they occur.

As of December 31, 2019, our firm sales commitments through 2024 included:

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We utilize a part of our firm transportation capacity to deliver gas and NGLs under the majority of these firm sales contracts. We have firm transportation contracts that require us to either ship products on said pipelines or pay demand charges for shortfalls. The minimum demand fees are reflected in our table of contractual obligations. See “Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Debt Agreements and Contractual Obligations.”

Gathering and Compression

Our exploration and development activities are supported by the natural gas gathering and compression assets of Antero Midstream and by third-party gathering and compression arrangements. Unlike many producing basins in the United States, certain portions of the Appalachian Basin do not have sufficient midstream infrastructure to support the existing and expected increasing levels of production. Our relationship with Antero Midstream allows us to obtain the necessary gathering and compression capacity for our production and we have leveraged our relationship with Antero Midstream to support our growth. For the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2019, Antero Midstream spent approximately $444 million and $316 million, respectively, on gas gathering and compression infrastructure that services our production. Subject to pre-existing dedications and other third-party commitments, we have dedicated to Antero Midstream substantially all of our current and future acreage in West Virginia and Ohio for gathering and compression services.

As of December 31, 2019, Antero Midstream owned and operated 324 miles of gas gathering pipelines in the Marcellus Shale. We also have access to additional low-pressure and high-pressure pipelines owned and operated by third parties. As of December 31, 2019, Antero Midstream owned and operated 17 compressor stations and we utilized 12 additional third-party compressor stations in the Marcellus Shale. The gathering, compression, and dehydration services provided by third parties are contracted on a fixed-fee basis.

As of December 31, 2019, in the Utica Shale Antero Midstream owned and operated 110 miles of low-pressure and high-pressure gathering pipelines and Antero Resources owned and operated eight miles of high-pressure pipelines. As of December 31, 2019, Antero Midstream owned and operated two compressor stations and we utilized four additional third-party compressor stations in the Utica Shale.

Natural Gas Processing

Many of our wells in the Marcellus and Utica Shales allow us to produce liquids-rich natural gas that contains a significant amount of NGLs. Liquids-rich natural gas must be processed, which involves the removal and separation of NGLs from the wellhead natural gas.

NGLs are valuable commodities once removed from the natural gas stream in a cryogenic processing facility yielding y-grade liquids. Y-grade liquids are then fractionated, thereby breaking up the y-grade liquid into its key components. Fractionation refers to the process by which a NGL y-grade stream is separated into individual NGL products such as ethane, propane, normal butane, isobutane, and natural gasoline. Fractionation occurs by heating the y-grade liquids to allow for the separation of the component parts based on the specific boiling points of each product. Each of the individual products has its own market price.

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The combination of infrastructure constraints in the Appalachian region and low ethane prices has resulted in many producers “rejecting” rather than “recovering” ethane. Ethane rejection occurs when ethane is left in the wellhead gas stream when the gas is processed, rather than being extracted and sold as a liquid after fractionation. When ethane is left in the gas stream, the Btu content of the residue gas at the tailgate of the processing plant is higher. Producers generally elect to “reject” ethane when the price received for the ethane in the gas stream is greater than the net price received for the ethane being sold as a liquid after fractionation. When ethane is recovered, the Btu content of the residue gas is lower, but a producer is then able to recover the value of the ethane sold as a separate product.

Given the existing commodity price environment and the current limited ethane market in the northeast, we are currently rejecting the majority of the ethane obtained in the natural gas stream when processing our liquids-rich gas. However, we realize a pricing upgrade when selling the remaining NGLs product stream at current prices. We may elect to recover more ethane when ethane prices result in a value for the ethane that is greater than the Btu equivalent residue gas and incremental recovery costs.

As of December 31, 2019, we had contracted with MarkWest Energy Partners L.P. to provide cryogenic processing capacity for our Marcellus and Utica Shales production as follows:

* Anticipated in-service date

Antero Midstream owns a 50% interest in the Joint Venture which owns certain of the existing and future Sherwood gas processing plants and a 33 1/3% interest in two fractionation facilities located at the Hopedale complex in Harrison County, Ohio. The Joint Venture’s processing investment began with the seventh plant at the Sherwood facility and continues through Sherwood 13 and Smithburg 1 in the table above. The Joint Venture provides processing services to us under a long-term, fixed-fee arrangement, subject to annual CPI-based adjustments.

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Transportation and Takeaway Capacity

We have entered into firm transportation agreements with various pipelines that enable us to deliver natural gas to the Midwest, Gulf Coast, Eastern Regional, and Mid-Atlantic markets. Our primary firm transportation commitments include the following:

Under firm transportation contracts, we are obligated to deliver minimum daily volumes or pay fees for any deficiencies in deliveries. See “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Debt Agreements and Contractual Obligations” for information on our minimum fees for such contracts. Based on current projected 2020 annual production guidance, we estimate that we could incur annual net marketing costs of $0.10 per Mcfe to $0.12 per Mcfe in 2020 for unutilized transportation capacity depending on the amount of unutilized capacity that can be marketed to third parties or utilized to transport third party gas and capture positive basis differentials. Where permitted, we continue to actively market any excess capacity in order to offset minimum commitment fees and those activities are recorded in our net marketing expense.

Water Handling and Treatment Operations

On September 23, 2015, we contributed (i) all of the outstanding limited liability company interests of Antero Water LLC to Antero Midstream and (ii) all of the assets, contracts, rights, permits and properties we owned or leased and used primarily in connection with the construction, ownership, operation, use or maintenance of our advanced wastewater treatment facility in Doddridge County, West Virginia, to Antero Treatment LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Antero Midstream. Our relationship with Antero Midstream allows us to obtain the necessary raw fresh and recycled water (collectively, “fresh water”) for use in our drilling and completion operations, as well as services to dispose of wastewater resulting from our operations.

Antero Midstream owns two independent fresh water distribution systems that distribute fresh water from the Ohio River and several regional water sources, for well completion operations in the Marcellus and Utica Shales. These systems consist of permanent buried pipelines, movable surface pipelines and fresh water storage facilitates, as well as pumping stations to transport the fresh water throughout the pipeline networks. To the extent necessary, the surface pipelines are moved to well pads for service completion operations in concert with our drilling program. As of December 31, 2019, Antero Midstream had the ability to store 5.8 million barrels of fresh water in 38 impoundments located throughout our leasehold acreage in the Marcellus and Utica Shales. Due to the extensive geographic distribution of Antero Midstream’s water pipeline systems in both West Virginia and Ohio, it is able to provide water delivery services to neighboring oil and gas producers within and adjacent to our operating area, subject to commercial arrangements, while reducing water truck traffic.

As of December 31, 2019, Antero Midstream owned and operated 149 miles of buried fresh water pipelines and 98 miles of movable surface fresh water pipelines in the Marcellus Shale, as well as 26 fresh water storage facilities equipped with transfer pumps. As of December 31, 2019, Antero Midstream owned and operated 54 miles of buried fresh water pipelines and 31 miles of movable surface fresh water pipelines in the Utica Shale, as well as 12 fresh water storage facilities equipped with transfer pumps.

We recently announced certain efficiency improvements and water initiatives, which are expected to reduce the amount of fresh water needed to complete our operations.  Through Antero Midstream, we have also commenced operations to recycle and reuse a portion of our flowback and produced water through blending.

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Major Customers

For the year ended December 31, 2019, sales to Sabine Pass Liquefaction, LLC and WGL Midstream accounted for approximately 16% and 15% of our total product revenues, respectively. For the year ended December 31, 2018, sales to Mercuria Energy America, Inc. and Tenaska Marketing Ventures accounted for approximately 14% and 13% of our total product revenues,

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respectively. For the year ended December 31, 2017, sales to Tenaska Marketing Ventures and WGL Midstream accounted for approximately 20% and 14% of our total product revenues, respectively.

Title to Properties

We believe that we have satisfactory title to all of our producing properties in accordance with generally accepted industry standards. As is customary in the industry, often in the case of undeveloped properties, cursory investigation of record title is made at the time of lease acquisition. Investigations are made before the consummation of an acquisition of producing properties and before commencement of drilling operations on undeveloped properties. Individual properties may be subject to burdens that we believe do not materially interfere with the use, or affect the value of, the properties. Burdens on properties may include: