Chord Names Lou CEO as Volumes Beat Guidance

The Tip Desk · October 21, 2026 · 3 min read

The Williston Basin producer booked $205 million of third-quarter buybacks at an average $135.74 a share and announced a $550 million Marcellus sale.

Chord Energy Corporation (CHRD) said preliminary third-quarter volumes exceeded the high end of its August guidance across oil, natural gas and NGLs, as it returned $205 million to shareholders through buybacks at an average $135.74 a share.

The independent exploration and production company, which concentrates on long-lived Williston Basin assets, also announced a divestiture of non-operated Marcellus assets for total gross consideration of $550 million, including a $55 million deposit paid in the quarter. Cash and cash equivalents stood at $804.7 million and total debt at $1,482.2 million on September 30, 2026.

President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Lou said strong performance across new and existing wells and better-than-expected downtime drove volumes above the top of guidance, and that strong volumes, in-line capital and favorable price realizations lifted adjusted free cash flow above expectations. NYMEX WTI averaged $85.69 a barrel and NYMEX Henry Hub averaged $2.96 a million Btu in the quarter. Chord recorded a $48.7 million loss on realized hedges and received $2.3 million to $2.5 million of distributions from equity securities.

Preliminary capital spending was in line with guidance. The company said preliminary CapEx included about $4.5 million of reimbursable non-operated CapEx, and that Marcellus-related preliminary CapEx exceeded expectations by about $6 million; together those items would adjust preliminary CapEx downward by about $10.5 million. Condensed consolidated financial statements for the three months ended September 30, 2026 were not yet available.

The third-quarter beat followed a second quarter in which oil volumes of 165.4 thousand barrels a day sat at the high end of guidance, after first-quarter oil of 158.0 thousand barrels a day had already exceeded the high end. Total volumes were 286.4 thousand barrels of oil equivalent a day in the second quarter. Capital spending in the second quarter was $416 million excluding $0.7 million of reimbursable non-operated CapEx. Adjusted free cash flow was $414.1 million in the second quarter, and Chord said it expected to increase returns to 75% of free cash flow in the third quarter after returning 54% of adjusted free cash flow in the second quarter as leverage fell below half a turn at quarter-end.

Oil realization flipped from a $2.35 a barrel discount to WTI in the first quarter to a $1.27 a barrel premium in the second. Natural gas realization was 32% of Henry Hub in the second quarter versus 64% in the first. Operating expenses were $10.28 a barrel of oil equivalent in the second quarter. Net cash from operations was $1,116.2 million in the second quarter. Share repurchases were $147.4 million in the second quarter, with the base dividend at $1.30 a share.

The company turned in line four additional 4-mile pads in the second quarter after completing the Toonie 5-well pad, its first full 4-mile DSU development, in the first quarter, when it also raised full-year 2026 oil volumes by 2 thousand barrels a day to 161 thousand barrels a day while keeping capital unchanged.

On October 19, 2026, Chord appointed Lou President and Chief Executive Officer, effective that day, and elected him to the board. He succeeds Danny Brown, who stepped down immediately to pursue another professional opportunity. Lou had more than 25 years in oil and gas, including 17 years at Chord and predecessor companies, and had served as executive vice president, chief strategy officer and chief commercial officer from March 2024. Board Chair Susan Cunningham said the company was implementing the change from a position of strength as it delivered improving execution, lower costs and resilient adjusted free cash flow.