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Epsilon Energy
Jason Stankowski runs Epsilon Energy, a public E&P that uses non-operated Appalachian gas as an annuity and is pivoting into Alberta helium exploration.
Epsilon Energy
Epsilon Energy incorporated in Delaware in 2005 and went public on the Nasdaq in 2010, originally acquiring upstream natural gas assets in the Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania. CEO Jason Stankowski, a former clay-court tennis professional and metals trader, joined the firm in 2018 and gradually rewired its strategy away from growth-for-growth drilling toward shareholder returns, reflected in a normalized dividend and a buyback authorization that has reduced the share count by over 10% since 2022. Epsilon holds a non-operated working interest in roughly 10,500 net acres in Pennsylvania's Marcellus, where Aubrey McClendon's old Chesapeake Energy acreage anchors the geology, but the strategic center of gravity shifted in mid-2023 when the company acquired a 25% stake in a liquid-helium exploration project in southern Alberta. The Alberta asset, operated by a third-party private explorer, targets helium concentrations in Devonian-aged structures — a niche that trades on helium's irreplaceability in MRI machines and semiconductor fabrication rather than on BTU pricing. The legacy Pennsylvania gas position meanwhile delivers high-margin, low-decline production that Epsilon treats as an annuity. The firm runs lean: 14 full-time employees split between Houston and a small Calgary presence that follows the helium investment. A share-repurchase program approved through December 2024 and a semi-annual dividend — $0.0625 per share as of early 2024 — define the stakeholder posture. In September 2023, Epsilon paid $6.8 million in cash for the Alberta helium interest, marking its first material diversification beyond Appalachia in its corporate history. Structurally, Epsilon is an anomaly — an upstream E&P that behaves like a royalty company without the royalty-company multiple. Its non-operated model means it holds passive working interests managed by turnkey operators, capping overhead and drilling risk while retaining commodity exposure. Management owns roughly 8% of outstanding shares, and the board includes a former Goldman Sachs energy banker, forming a governance architecture that prioritizes return of capital over reserve-replacement metrics.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2005
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Houston
Corporate office
Houston, TX, United States
Additional offices
Calgary, AB, Canada
Principals
Jason Stankowski
Chief Executive Officer
J. Andrew Williamson
Chief Financial Officer
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Epsilon Energy?
Jason Stankowski, CEO and a director, sets the strategic direction. Before joining Epsilon in 2018, Stankowski was a commodity options trader and a professional tennis player. The board includes John Lovoi, a former Goldman Sachs energy investment banker who chairs the audit committee and shapes capital-allocation policy.
How did Epsilon shift from pure natural gas to helium exploration?
In September 2023, Epsilon paid $6.8 million for a 25% stake in a private Alberta helium explorer targeting Devonian formations in southern Alberta. The investment was sourced through board-level commodity relationships and reflects the thesis that helium's industrial demand drivers — MRI machines, semiconductor manufacturing, space launch systems — decouple its price from natural gas benchmarks.
What is Epsilon's capital-return policy?
The firm pays a semi-annual dividend, set at $0.0625 per share per period in early 2024, and runs an active share-buyback program that has reduced its outstanding share count by more than 10% since 2022. In its 2023 fiscal year, Epsilon generated $15.6 million of free cash flow and directed substantially all of it toward dividends and repurchases.
Does Epsilon operate the wells it owns?
No. Epsilon's Pennsylvania Marcellus acreage is entirely non-operated, meaning independent turnkey operators manage drilling, completions, and production. This structure keeps Epsilon's overhead low — the firm has 14 employees — but means production timing and capital-expenditure levels are outside its direct control.
How is Epsilon's helium investment valued relative to its legacy gas business?
The Alberta helium stake is the dominant growth narrative, but the Marcellus gas position still supplies virtually all of the firm's near-term cash flow. As of 2023 year-end filings, the helium project is pre-revenue exploration; the valuation case rests on the project delineating a commercially viable helium pool over the subsequent 18–24 months.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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