In 2018, Southwestern Energy announced it was selling its assets in the Fayetteville Shale to “capture greater returns from our higher margin Appalachia assets.” In 2022, Exxon subsidiary, XTO, announced the sale of its Fayetteville Shale assets to “focus on more lucrative prospects.” In both cases, Oklahoma City-based oil and gas producer Flywheel Energy saw a future opportunity to invest in Arkansas when larger players like Southwestern Energy and XTO did not.   

Fast forward to 2025, and Flywheel Energy is attempting to revive drilling activity in Arkansas’s Fayetteville Shale. It is betting that renewed investment can breathe economic life into a region largely quiet since natural gas prices crashed and companies fled for other parts of the country. 

Established in 2017, Flywheel Energy quickly established itself by consolidating acreage throughout the Fayetteville Shale in an attempt to create value through gained efficiencies. Now controlling about 5,600 wells that produce approximately 775 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, Flywheel is set to invest between $25 million and $30 million in 2025 to drill five new appraisal wells — a significant commitment, marking the first substantial drilling program in the shale since 2018. 

The Fayetteville Shale, discovered in 2004, is primarily located in Cleburne, Conway, Faulkner, Pope, Van Buren, and White counties. By 2008, it was one of the nation’s top ten natural gas plays creating 11,000 jobs and injecting nearly $20 billion into the Arkansas economy. However, activity sharply declined as natural gas prices dropped from a peak of more than $12 per MCF (thousand cubic feet) in 2008 to less than $2 per MCF in 2016. Those prices motivated some producers to move to more lucrative, liquid-rich fields like Texas’s Permian Basin, Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale, or Louisiana’s Haynesville Shale. 

Beyond the efficiencies Flywheel Energy has been able to create, renewed exploration interest is driven in part by improving economic conditions. Natural gas prices have recently rebounded, surpassing $4 per MCF in early 2025, a price point that renews profitability prospects in the shale. Coupled with technological advancements, Flywheel aims to unlock previously inaccessible resources at competitive costs due to the shale’s comparatively shallow depth of around 5,000 feet. 

Flywheel Energy believes that promising outcomes from pilot technologies applied to existing wells indicate that substantial reserves remain viable for extraction. The company’s planned $25 million to $30 million investment in 2025 — beginning with five appraisal wells — could significantly boost local economic activity.  

For Arkansas royalty owners, Flywheel’s renewed drilling activity could provide meaningful economic gains. Increased natural gas extraction leads to higher royalty payments, injecting fresh capital into local economies. Secondary beneficiaries, such as equipment suppliers, logistics companies, and service providers, also stand to gain. 

If Flywheel’s initial drilling campaign proves successful and expands, royalty payments in the region could rise by millions of dollars annually. Such cash influx often boosts local consumer spending, real estate markets, and community investment, providing broader economic benefits beyond direct employment. 

This new economic activity would be in addition to the substantial amount Flywheel Energy is currently paying in taxes, royalties, and wages. Since 2021, Flywheel has paid an average of $40 million dollars per year in property, conservation, and severance taxes in Arkansas. The company has paid an average of $113 million per year to royalty owners within the Fayetteville Shale. And finally, Flywheel Energy currently employs 250 Arkansans with an average total payroll of $20 million per year.  

Flywheel Energy’s planned $25 million to $30 million initial investment for five new wells in 2025 represents not only a strategic bet on the Fayetteville Shale’s underlying potential, but also a signal of optimism for the region’s future energy sector growth. While the Fayetteville Shale’s economics may not rival more liquid-rich plays, Flywheel’s strategic asset consolidation and innovation-driven exploration strategy position the company to bring sustained value to the region. 

Ultimately, Flywheel Energy’s decision to restart drilling operations exemplifies a broader industry trend: companies leveraging efficiency, technology, and targeted investments to reinvigorate mature shale formations. For Arkansas, this renewed activity may mark the beginning of another economic upswing within the Fayetteville Shale. And if that upswing happens, it will be because Flywheel Energy chose to bet on Arkansas when other companies chose to fold.