Liberty Energy continues to capitalize on project opportunities, even as tariffs and OPEC+ plans create uncertainty in the E&P space.

Expect to see more developments like Liberty’s project near Pittsburgh with two other companies, the company’s top two executives said on the earnings call April 17. It’s a key part of Liberty’s plans to expand power services beyond the oilfield.

Liberty, Range Resources and Imperial Land Corp. signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop an industrial park in Washington County, Pennsylvania, anchored by a data center and powered by a Liberty natural gas-fired plant.

“We have a number of conversations going on in the data center space and also along the lines of that MOU,” CEO Ron Gusek said. “Our pipeline of power opportunities across North America continues to grow, including projects in oil and gas, the commercial and industrial space, and smaller data centers up to 250 megawatts in size.”

The development is an example of American businesses working together to reshore industrial capacity, CFO Michael Stock said.

“This is a well-known industrial developer in the Northeast looking to develop an industrial park on 875 acres of land, looking to anchor it with a data center, in conjunction with Liberty building a power plant and Range providing the gas,” he said. “We’ve got fiber running nearby, we’ve got the ability to build it.”

Private power plants have significant advantages over grid connections too, Gusek said.

“The challenge with being on the grid is that you don’t know what the power price is going to be next year or the year after that,” he said. “In a situation like this, where we have a strong partner on the gas side and LPI (Liberty Power Innovations) on the power generation side, our ability to provide confidence to the end user of that electricity around their long-term cost of energy in a facility like this is differential to what the grid could possibly provide.”

2025 outlook

There’s still a lot of opportunities left for Liberty to capitalize on.

Gusek said North American producers haven’t meaningfully changed their plans for 2025, despite tariff announcements and OPEC+ ramping up production again.

“We have excess demand for Liberty services as our customers align themselves with top-tier providers in a clear industry flight to quality,” he said.

Liberty's equipment is lasting longer too, partly thanks to artificial intelligence.

“In the last three years, the average life expectancy has increased 27% for engines, 40% for fluid ends and an impressive 37% for power ends over the last two years. In part through the implementation of AI-driven predictive maintenance strategies and continuous machine learning,” Gusek said.

Liberty reported a net income of $20 million on revenue of $977 million for the first quarter.

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