About AFE Leaks

Bringing operational and financial transparency to the Lower 48 oil and gas industry

Who We Are

A walkthrough of the AFE Leaks platform — the datasets we cover, the apps we build, and the ways to plug into them.

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What is AFE Leaks?

AFE Leaks was created as a platform for creative and independent research focused on the oil and gas industry, with a particular emphasis on operations. Our mission is guided by four core principles that drive everything we do.

Credibility

AFE Leaks stands on a foundation of expertise and industry experience. Our founder's background spans roles as a Reservoir Engineer, Managing Director for an international financial services firm involved in oil and gas debt and equity transactions, and Head of Lower 48 Corporate Research at a leading oil and gas consultancy.

Building on this foundation, we continuously expand our network of industry experts to uphold and enhance the credibility of our insights.

Usefulness

Our research is driven by a single question: "Does this analysis provide tangible value to operators, service companies, or investors?"

Free from corporate subscriber bias and conflicts of interest, AFE Leaks leverages proprietary data to offer honest and actionable research. While our newsletter provides high-level commentary, deeper research and interactive data tools are available at paid tiers.

Creativity

At its heart, AFE Leaks was born as a creative outlet, free from the constraints of corporate influence. Our research approaches problems from innovative angles, often incorporating interactive elements and non-traditional methodologies to uncover unique insights that others miss.

Accessibility

We believe that powerful analysis should be understandable and actionable, even for those unfamiliar with the nuances of the oil and gas industry. AFE Leaks prioritizes clear explanations of methodologies, findings, and their implications. For those interested in diving deeper, we often include reproducible code to empower subscribers to replicate and build on our work.

Why Upstream Operational Data Matters

Capital allocation in the Lower 48 still runs on gut feel and stale benchmarks. Operators, investors, and lenders make billion-dollar calls without a shared view of what wells actually cost, how they produce, or how the companies behind them line up on the SEC tape.

Bringing the operational and financial pictures together changes that: operators can see exactly where their capex sits relative to peers and where vendors are taking too much. Investors can stress-test a management team's per-well economics against the company's reported financials. Lenders can tie reserves, hedges, and credit metrics back to the wells they're underwriting.

AFE Leaks was built to make that connection. We pull together 100,000+ wells of AFE, actual, and SEC-derived cost data, plus production, type curves, vendor spend, price realization, SEC financials, reserves, hedges, credit, guidance, and per-filing operational metrics (LOE, GPT, realizations per BOE) — so the well-level story and the company-level story sit in the same place.

AFE Leaks

What Makes Us Different

We're not just another data provider. Here's what sets AFE Leaks apart in the energy data landscape.

Independent Research

No corporate bias, no conflicts of interest. Our research is funded by subscribers, not the companies we analyze, ensuring honest, unbiased insights.

Real-World Data

AFEs, actuals, and SEC-derived per-well capex from 100,000+ wells, plus production, vendor spend, and SEC financials for the public operators behind them — not estimates or models.

Actionable Insights

Every analysis is designed to answer the question: "What can I do with this information?" We provide context, implications, and next steps—not just raw data.

Our Impact

See how AFE Leaks is transforming decision-making across the energy sector

100,000+
Wells with cost data
$480B+
Total capex tracked
1,600+
Operators tracked
20+
SEC-linked operators

Who Uses AFE Leaks

Operators & Service Companies

  • • Benchmark capex and operations against regional peers
  • • Track vendor spend and price realization gaps
  • • Validate AFEs with peer actuals
  • • Build type curves and run AFE-level economics

Investors, Lenders & Advisors

  • • Tie well-level economics back to SEC financials
  • • Diligence M&A targets with real operational data
  • • Track reserves, hedges, credit metrics, and guidance
  • • Pipe it all into Excel, Power BI, or AI agents via MCP

Our Commitment

At AFE Leaks, we're committed to fostering honest, useful, and innovative research while creating a community that values transparency and independent thought. Join us as we explore the operational and strategic challenges facing the oil and gas industry, one analysis at a time.

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