Crescent Energy says third-quarter hedge settlements consumed $144 million of cash

Crescent Energy expects to report about $144 million of cash paid on its commodity derivative positions for the third quarter of 2026, reversing roughly $37 million of hedge cash received a year earlier, and it amended its credit agreement to permit its previously announced purchase of Eagle Ford assets from Devon Energy.

Hedge settlements turn into a $144 million quarterly cost

Crescent Energy's October 15, 2026 filing does not carry an income statement. What it carries is the cash cost of the company's commodity hedges: for the three months ended September 30, 2026, Crescent expects to report about $144 million of cash paid on its derivative positions, against about $37 million of cash received from hedge positions in the same quarter of 2025. The direction reversed, and the swing is about $181 million.

The nine-month comparison is worse. Cash paid on derivatives in the first three quarters of 2026 was about $383 million, while the same stretch of 2025 produced about $81 million of cash received, a change of about $464 million.

Inside the quarterly total, net cash paid on the settlement of derivatives was $160 million, offset by credits from contracts acquired in the SilverBow and Vital mergers. Those acquired-contract settlements are booked as positive adjustments to operating cash flow and as additions to Adjusted EBITDAX, and the same lines bridge the nine-month figure: $504 million of net settlement payments and $156 million of acquired-contract credits, with the Ridgemar contingent earn-out settlements filling the remaining gap to $383 million. Crescent said it expects to report the earn-out settlements as financing outflows, and to add them to Adjusted EBITDAX.

The second quarter of 2026 was heavier, but the two filings do not put the comparison on the same basis. July's filing put total cash paid for the second quarter at $154 million and disclosed by footnote that the amount excluded $30 million of Ridgemar earn-out settlements; the October filing carries its own earn-out settlements inside the quarterly table, so the two headline figures are not directly comparable. Put both quarters on a single earn-out-inclusive basis — $184 million for the second quarter, its disclosed $154 million plus the excluded $30 million, against $144 million for the third quarter — and the third quarter was $40 million lighter. Comparing the published $154 million with $144 million would understate that.

The net settlement line needs the same care. Third-quarter net settlement payments were $160 million, against $216 million as the second quarter was originally reported, but the two filings do not present that line identically: July put first-half net settlement payments at $317 million, while the October table implies $344 million for the same six months — its $504 million nine-month line less the $160 million third quarter — a difference of $27 million. The $56 million quarter-on-quarter drop in that line is therefore not like for like either.

Because the filing says the total is reflected in Adjusted EBITDAX, the cash reversal lands directly on that measure.

A credit agreement amended for the Devon Eagle Ford purchase

Signed on October 14, 2026, the Sixteenth Amendment to Crescent Energy Finance LLC's credit agreement "permits the consummation of the previously announced acquisition of certain Eagle Ford assets" from Devon Energy Production Company, L.P., a subsidiary of Devon Energy Corporation. The same document allows an up to $2.0 billion, 364-day unsecured bridge credit facility to fund part of the cash consideration, and it "maintains the aggregate elected commitments at $2.0 billion".

Term loans secured alongside the revolver are permitted, capped at the lesser of the borrowing base minus elected commitments and outstanding pari passu debt, or 50.0% of elected commitments plus that debt. Up to $1.0 billion of certain additional borrowings incurred between May 18, 2026 and the April 1, 2027 scheduled redetermination are excluded from the requirement to reduce the borrowing base by 0.25 times the principal amount of the new debt. The filing repeats the credit terms under Item 2.03 by cross-reference instead of restating them.

2027 oil swaps priced at $75.73 a barrel

The filing also published Crescent's net volume positions by commodity as of September 30, 2026, adjusted for acquisition hedges executed through October 9, 2026. Volumes are stated in thousands.

WTI crude oil swaps cover 21.92 million barrels of 2027 production at a weighted-average fixed price of $75.73, against 5.25 million barrels at $64.62 for 2026 and 273,000 barrels at $74.50 for 2028. Three-way collars on 8.92 million barrels of 2027 oil carry a $54.48 floor, a $68.18 short call and an $82.68 long call. Natural gas swaps cover 22.54 million MMBtu for 2026 at $4.10 and 7.3 million MMBtu for 2027 at $4.21, while 2027 natural gas basis swaps run to 91.25 million MMBtu at minus $0.42.

Those positions are a snapshot of net volumes as of September 30, 2026, and the table runs through 2028, so it cannot account for cash already settled in the third quarter. On the 2027 book, 21.92 million barrels swapped at $75.73 keep the company exposed to paying out on that volume if crude holds above the swap price — standard swap mechanics as the desk reads them, not a cause the filing states. The 2026 totals also carry a Ridgemar contingent earn-out line that the 2025 table did not, so the swing is not purely price-driven. The filing states no reason for the settlements and discloses no realised prices behind them.

The earnings report itself is still ahead

None of this is the third-quarter earnings report. The filing contains no revenue, no earnings per share, no production volumes, no capital spending and no guidance; Item 2.02 is limited to derivative settlement cash, and Item 7.01 to the hedge table. The settlement amounts are stated in millions. Crescent described the dollar amounts as "preliminary and subject to change" and said the final figures will be reported in its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2026.

That quarterly report has not been filed yet. It is where the settlement lines land in the cash flow statement and Adjusted EBITDAX, and where the effect of the Devon EF Assets Acquisition and any drawing on the bridge facility will first be reported. With the credit amendment signed and the hedge book disclosed, the quarter's actual results remain the missing piece.