Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Statewide WV | Tug Hill Operating | West Virginia
A Closer Look at EQT’s $5.2B Purchase of Tug Hill’s THQ Appalachia
In September, EQT Corporation announced it is buying Tug Hill Operating’s West Virginia shale assets for $5.2 billion (see Confirmed: EQT Buys Tug Hill’s THQ Appalachia for $5.2 Billion). The deal adds 90,000 acres and 800 MMcf/d (million cubic feet per day) of production to EQT’s existing, massive, portfolio. Although we shared many of the details about the transaction (as provided by EQT), RBN Energy has done a deeper dive into the deal, looking at what it means for EQT, and what it means for the entire region.
Read More “A Closer Look at EQT’s $5.2B Purchase of Tug Hill’s THQ Appalachia”
In something of a shocker, EQT Corporation, the largest natural gas producer in the country with its headquarters (and most major drilling operations) in Pennsylvania, is throwing its weight and support behind a coalition in West Virginia to attract one of the so-called regional hydrogen hubs (worth $1 billion or more in taxpayer investment) to the Mountain State, not to the Keystone State. EQT is one of the main players in forming a new coalition called the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2). Other big energy companies supporting ARCH2 include Williams, Dominion Energy, CNX Resources, and New Fortress Energy (among many more).
Yesterday was the first day of the two-day Shale Insight conference being held in Erie, PA. By all accounts, it was a great day. Among the all-stars presenting were Toby Rice, CEO of EQT Corporation, Nick Dell’Osso, CEO of Chesapeake Energy, Greg Floerke, COO of MPLX, and Neil Chatterjee, former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman. The important role of LNG, pipelines, regulations, and more were discussed. One of the themes of the day: Natural gas is not a bridge fuel, but the destination.
In February 2020, EQT Corporation’s credit rating (for company-issued bonds) was designated at the “junk” (i.e. non-investment grade) level. In March of this year, two of the three top credit rating agencies–Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings–upgraded EQT’s credit rating, returning it to investment grade (see 
Earlier this month EQT Corporation announced it is buying Tug Hill Operating’s West Virginia shale assets for $5.2 billion (see 
Last week EQT Corporation confirmed it is buying Tug Hill’s THQ Appalachia operation with major assets in West Virginia for $5.2 billion (see 
Yesterday MDN brought you the news that EQT Corporation is buying the West Virginia assets of Tug Hill Operating–the company’s THQ Appalachia operation–for $5.2 billion (see 
The rumors were right. Yesterday we brought you the news (rumors), as reported by both Reuters and Bloomberg, that EQT Corporation was about to seal a deal to buy Tug Hill’s THQ Appalachia operation with major assets in West Virginia (see 
Last week the three states with active Marcellus/Utica drilling, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, issued a collective 19 new drilling permits, down from 30 the week before. The top receiver of permits in PA was EQT (i.e. Rice Drilling), with five permits issued for the same well pad in Greene County. Range Resources and Inflection Energy each received two new permits.
Drillers (exploration and production companies, or E&Ps) were thrilled with record-high earnings and cash flow in the second quarter of this year. Soaring commodity prices and “strict financial discipline” on the part of oil and gas drillers resulted in pre-tax operating earnings and cash flows surging by 29% and 22%, respectively, from 1Q22. And 1Q22 was up too! So what did drillers, especially drillers in the Marcellus/Utica, do with all that extra cash? Did they pay down debt? Buy back shares of company stock? Issue higher dividends? Something else?
In July 2018, a group of 100+ southwestern Pennsylvania landowners sued EQT for failure to pay them rental fees for storing natural gas under their properties (see