Even with No Drilling, Southwestern Continues to Renew WV Leases

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southwestern energyIn a bit of encouraging “this too shall pass,” we spotted an article that says Southwestern Energy Company is actively renewing leases expiring in West Virginia. You may recall that in the fall of 2014 Southwestern purchased 413,000 Marcellus/Utica acres, most of it in West Virginia (see Chesapeake Sells Close to 25% of Marcellus/Utica Operation). In 2015 Southwestern was decidedly contrarian and expanded their drilling program when everyone else was scaling back (see Southwestern’s Contrarian Plan: Double Down on Drilling in the Marcellus). The plan worked, sort of. The company achieved record production in 2015, but they also achieved record losses (see Southwestern Energy 2015: Record Production, Big Paper Loss). Which led to Southwestern idling their rigs in the Marcellus/Utica in 2016 (see Southwestern Cuts 2016 Spending 80%, Idles Marcellus Rigs (for Now)). Many of the leases Southwestern purchased from Chessy are now expiring–it’s been five years. The good news is that even though Southwestern isn’t currently drilling, they are re-signing leases–a vote of confidence that drilling will return soon…

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