On Friday we brought you the bombshell news that EQT has floated a takeover offer for CNX Resources (see Stop Press: Sources Say EQT Trying to Take Over CNX Resources). CNX CEO Nick DeIuliis spoke to Pittsburgh Business Times ace reporter Paul Gough about the rumor…
Read More “CNX CEO Nick DeIuliis Responds to EQT Takeover Rumor”
Bloomberg is reporting insider sources say EQT, already the biggest natural gas producer in the country (and pureplay driller in the Marcellus/Utica), has sent a takeover proposal to CNX Resources, another major Marcellus/Utica driller. Friendly? Hostile? Who knows. In September inside sources told Reuters that EQT had made a bid on Chevron’s extensive M-U acreage (see Sources: EQT Offering $750M for Chevron’s Marcellus/Utica Assets). Would/could EQT actually end up buying both? Seems like a stretch.
Read More “Stop Press: Sources Say EQT Trying to Take Over CNX Resources”
Although the big news from yesterday is that EQT is rumored to be eyeing a takeover of CNX Resources (see our lead story today), EQT released its third-quarter 2020 update yesterday with news almost as big. EQT previously announced it is looking to sell its right to ship gas along the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). Yesterday the company said it believes a sale of its MVP capacity will happen by the end of this year.
Read More “EQT Reopens the Taps; Looks to Dump MVP Contract by Year’s End”
What do you know? All three M-U states issued new shale drilling permits last week! That’s the first time in perhaps the last two months all three states issued new shale permits in the same week. Pennsylvania issued 9 new permits, Ohio issued 3 new permits, and West Virginia issued 8 new permits.
Read More “Weekly Shale Drilling Permits for PA, OH, WV: Oct. 12-16”
We are on the cusp of the quarterly earnings reports issued by all publicly-traded companies. In fact, EQT, the largest natural gas-producing company in the U.S., released their numbers and held a conference call this morning (we’ll report on it tomorrow). As Marcellus/Utica drillers get ready to release their third-quarter numbers, analysts on Wall Street are signaling what they want to see.
Read More “Wall St. Wants No 3Q Spending/Production Growth from M-U Drillers”
We spotted a couple of stories, one in Barron’s the other in the Wall Street Journal, about the pickup in the futures price of natural gas over the past week, and how those recent gains have led to impressive gains in the share price for Marcellus/Utica drillers. Yesterday the NYMEX Henry Hub futures price closed up 4.11% to $2.74/Mcf. The rising tide lifts all boats.
Read More “Marcellus/Utica Driller Stock Prices Trend Up with NatGas Price”
Nearly a month ago sources talking to Reuters let it slip that EQT has offered $750 million for Chevron’s $6.5 billion worth of Marcellus/Utica assets (see Sources: EQT Offering $750M for Chevron’s Marcellus/Utica Assets). Since that time we’ve not heard a peep about negotiations and whether or not Chevron is seriously considering the offer. Let’s do a little speculating. What if Chevron does accept that offer? What does it mean for investors and others with a stake in the outcome?
Read More “What EQT Purchase of Chevron’s M-U Assets Means, IF it Happens”
Somebody lit a fire under drillers in Pennsylvania last week! Or maybe we should say a fire was lit under the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). PA issued 35 new permits last week spread pretty much across the entire state–in the northeast, central, and southwest portions of the state. Ohio, once again, issued no new Utica permits last week. West Virginia issued a single new permit last week.
Read More “Weekly Shale Drilling Permits for PA, OH, WV: Sep 28 – Oct 2”
Last December Chevron announced it was writing down over $10 billion worth of its U.S. onshore shale assets, with $6.5 billion of that number coming from its Marcellus/Utica assets. Also in December, the company posted for sale ALL of their M-U assets (see Chevron Confirms M-U Assets for Sale, Asks Vendors to Avoid Media). In February Chevron hired investment bank Barclays to help shop their M-U assets with the bids due in August (see Bids for Chevron’s 550K M-U Acres & 500 Wells Due in Mid-August). “Sources” talking to Reuters have let it leak that EQT has offered $750 million for Chevron’s $6.5 billion worth of assets.
Read More “Sources: EQT Offering $750M for Chevron’s Marcellus/Utica Assets”
What started out as a spat between two companies that used to be one and the same, EQT and Equitrans, has quickly turned into open warfare that’s heading for court. We’re talking about the flap over whether or not EQT has the right to buy out Equitrans’ Hammerhead pipeline, and turn around and sell it, as EQT is now trying to do (see EQT & Equitrans Spat Over Hammerhead Pipeline Goes Public).
Read More “It’s War: EQT Claims it Can Buy Hammerhead Pipe Due to MVP Delay”
For the third week in a row, both Pennsylvania and West Virginia issued permits to drill new shale wells last week, and Ohio did not. What’s up with Ohio? PA issued 13 new permits for wells on five well pads. WV issued 2 new permits on two different pads. PA’s new permits skewed toward the southwestern part of the state with 11 of the 13 permits issued (two in Bradford County in the northeast). The WV permits were both issued in Marshall County, located in the northern panhandle of the state.
Read More “Weekly Shale Drilling Permits for PA, OH, WV: Sep 7-11”
There’s trouble brewing in EQT-land. Once upon a time, EQT was both a producer (drilling) and midstream (pipeline) company. But then so-called activist investors forced the company (after its merger with Rice Energy) to split in two–drilling and pipelines. The split happened in November 2018 (see It’s Here! EQT Midstream Division Now Split into Standalone Co.). The new pipeline company was eventually renamed Equitrans Midstream. The two companies, EQT and Equitrans, have maintained a close relationship with Equitrans doing the lion’s share of gathering EQT’s production and getting it to market. But now the two sides are squabbling over an Equitrans project called Hammerhead, and that disagreement has gone public with Equitrans issuing a pointed warning via press release.
Read More “EQT & Equitrans Spat Over Hammerhead Pipeline Goes Public”
In mid-May the nation’s largest natural gas producer, EQT Corporation, temporarily shut-in (curtailed) roughly one-third of its natural gas production in Pennsylvania and Ohio (see EQT Shuts in 33% of NatGas Production in Pennsylvania, Ohio). The company curtailed 1.4 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas production and kept it offline until the end of June. Beginning in July EQT restored their curtailed production (see EQT Brings Curtailed Production Back Online, M-U Flows Back Up). As of Sept. 1, the company has turned off some of the valves once again.
Read More “EQT Shuts-In Production Again, Turned Off 1/2 Bcf/d as of Sept. 1”
S&P Global Market Intelligence has done some forensic analysis of permits issued to drill new shale wells in Pennsylvania during August 2020. They compared last month’s permit numbers with the numbers from a year ago and found that PA issued 77 new permits last month, down 24% from August 2019.
Read More “PA Shale Drilling Permits Down 24% in August, but EQT Roars Back”
Pittsburgh-based IntegrServ, a trucking company partly owned by former Pittsburgh Steeler Jerome Bettis, filed a federal lawsuit yesterday against EQT claiming discrimination against the company as a minority-owned company after it canceled a contract worth some $66 million last year. This is an involved story and of course, there are always two sides to every story (and two sides to every lawsuit).
Read More “Trucking Company Sues EQT for Racial Bias, Canceled $66M Contract”
How does one make money in the natural gas market these days when the price of gas is at historic lows? One way is if an investor was fortunate enough to bet the price would go down. Those folks made money. The other way is to…invest in drillers? Yep. Even though low prices hurt drillers, investors still like the looks of what is on the horizon, especially for companies operating in the Marcellus/Utica. Example: The stock price for Range Resources and EQT is up over 30% each this year so far.
Read More “Investors Love M-U Companies, Even Though Gas Price is Low”