EQT Corp

Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Equinor/Statoil | Harrison County | Tyler County | West Virginia | Wetzel County

EQT Buying 62.5K “Core” WV Marcellus Acres from Statoil for $407M
May 3, 2016May 3, 2016

EQT, a major Marcellus (and Utica) driller based in Pittsburgh, announced yesterday it has cut a deal to purchase all of Norwegian Statoil’s Marcellus assets in West Virginia. The deal will give EQT another 62,500 net acres and 50 million cubic feet per day (50 Mcf/d) of natgas production for $407 million. The acreage is located in Wetzel, Tyler and Harrison counties in WV. The deal includes 31 Marcellus wells and ~500 drilling locations. It bumps up EQT’s available drilling locations by a big 29% and shows the company’s continued commitment to the mighty Marcellus Shale. How will they finance it? EQT released another announcement yesterday that says they are floating 10.5 million shares of new stock, hoping to get $67 per share for a total of $700 million for this deal and for “other potential acquisitions and for general corporate purposes.” Statoil is retaining ownership of its shale assets in Ohio and (for now) it’s non-operated Marcellus assets–i.e. joint venture deals where Statoil owns a portion of the lease but doesn’t do the drilling…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp

EQT 1Q16: $5.6M Profit, Prod. Up 24%, Drilling ~80 Wells in ’16
April 29, 2016April 29, 2016

Bucking the trend of other drillers, EQT Corporation, a major Marcellus/Utica drillers, posted a $5.6 million profit for first quarter 2016. Also of interest in EQT’s latest quarterly update: Production volume was 24% higher than last year this time, the price they got for natural gas was 35% lower than last year, and they still have a $1.5 billion line of credit with the bank–so far undrawn. EQT plans to drill 72 Marcellus wells in 2016, and 5-10 Utica wells. Here’s the update…
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Alpha Natural Resources | American Petroleum Partners | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Greene County (PA) | Pennsylvania | Rice Energy

EQT, APP Challenge Rice Energy’s $200M Bid for ANR Shale Assets
April 27, 2016April 27, 2016

Two weeks ago MDN told you that Rice Energy had offered a “stalking horse” bid of $200 million for the shale assets of now-bankrupt coal company Alpha Natural Resources (see Rice Energy Offers Bankrupt ANR $200M for Marcellus/Utica Assets). ANR and Rice were joint venture partners for other shale acreage. Rice previously bought ANR out in that deal. So Rice and ANR are already buds. It appears part of the process in making a so-called stalking horse bid involves certain conditions and assurances (and payouts should someone else bid more). It’s all complicated financial stuff, not our specialty. But EQT and American Petroleum Partners (APP), two other Marcellus/Utica drillers, are also interested in ANR’s assets and apparently willing to bid at least as much as Rice. But because of these special conditions, bidding $200 million will cost them more than it will for Rice. So EQT and APP complained to the bankruptcy judge that Rice Energy is getting a sweetheart deal from ANR–a deal that should be canceled. The bankruptcy judge disagreed…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

EQT 4th Driller to Receive “Sustainable Shale Development” Cert
April 19, 2016April 19, 2016

And then there were four. The Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD) has fought stiff headwinds from the beginning. The organization was founded by a group of shale industry people and environmentalists reaching across the isle to forge strict standards that both sides can live with. Environmental leftists, like Mamma Teresa Heinz Kerry and her Heniz Endowments, pulled support and have actively worked against the CSSD (see She Speaks! Teresa Heinz Kerry Talks re Endowments Firings, CSSD). Other so-called environmental groups like the William Penn Foundation also bailed. But new supporters stepped into the breach to take their shoes (see CSSD Thrown a Lifeline from Richard King Mellon Foundation). On the industry side, not all that many stepped up to receive the CSSD’s thorough examination. So far three organizations have applied for and received CSSD certification: Chevron, Shell and CONSOL Energy. You can now add EQT, one of the founding sponsors of the organization, to the list. EQT’s own Andrew Place–no longer with EQT, now a Commissioner with the PA Public Utility Commission–was the first/interim Executive Director of the CSSD for the first year. So it’s only fitting that EQT practice what they preach and seek certification…
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Chevron | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Corporation of America | EQT Corp | Noble Energy | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Rex Energy | Rice Energy | Statewide PA | Vantage Energy | XTO

Top 10 Marcellus/Utica Drillers in SWPA – Ranked by Production
April 4, 2016April 4, 2016

Everybody loves a list. We do too! We spotted a ranking in a recent issue of the Pittsburgh Business Times that lists the top 37 shale gas producers in southwestern Pennsylvania, based on the amount of gas they produced in 2015. We pulled the names of the top 10, listed in order from most to least…
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Ascent Resources | Belmont County | Chesapeake Energy | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Greene County (PA) | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Rice Energy | Susquehanna County | Washington County

Top 10 Shale Wells of 2015 for Marcellus, Utica, Entire Country
April 1, 2016April 1, 2016

Rystad Energy Ranks, a data company based in Norway, hosts web-based portal with easy-to-use access data on oil and gas wells around the globle. They call their service “Rystad Energy cubes.” Rystead has made a wealth of data available in predefined “ranking lists” where the user can change filter settings to drill into and slice and dice the data. They call it their “database list format Ranks.” Up to now, Rystad Energy cubes have been available only through Rystad Energy’s proprietary Cube Browser. With “Ranks” users can now access predefined analyses based on the same databases. The really cool thing? They offer the “top 10” for various queries absolutely free. No registration required. We took it for a spin and produced Top 10 lists for Marcellus Shale well production in 2015, Utica Shale well production in 2015, and all American shale wells for 2015. As you might imagine being an MDN reader, most of the wells in the “all American” list are wells located in the Marcellus/Utica…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Greene County (PA) | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA Court Says Leaseholder Can Sublease Production Rights
March 28, 2016March 28, 2016

We’re not sure how many landowners this may potentially affect, but we found a recent court decision by Pennsylvania Superior Court to be interesting. Landowners who had inherited property (and a lease) in Greene County, PA asked the court to “sever” the lease into two parts. The lease is with EQT and its affiliates and is 50 years old–long before Marcellus drilling. The landowner makes the case that because EQT had assigned the production rights to a third party and had never themselves drilled, the lease is terminated. There are two parts to the lease: one which said EQT had up to 10 years to extract oil and gas, the other that EQT can store natgas underground. The landowners were looking to end that portion of the lease that allows drilling because EQT never drilled on or under the property–and by assigning those rights to someone else, they have abrogated their rights under the lease. The court disagreed and said you can’t “sever” production rights from storage rights. If one OR the other happened, under the original lease, that is enough to make all parts of the lease ongoing and enforceable. Our description is likely not very good. Here’s what the legal beagles at Vorys say about the case, along with a copy of the decision…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pipelines | Statewide VA | Virginia

Mountain Valley Pipeline Wins Right to Survey in VA w/o Permission
March 9, 2016March 9, 2016

Mountain Valley Pipeline is a $3.5 billion, 301-mile pipeline that will run from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA. The project, which filed an official application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last October, is being built by EQT, NextEra Energy and several other partners (see Mountain Valley Pipeline Files FERC Appl, Now Just Matter of Time). The project has faced stiff opposition from landowners in West Virginia (see Mountain Valley Pipeline Sues 103 WV Landowners for Survey Access). The project has also faced opposition from landowners in Virginia. However, things just got a lot easier for Mountain Valley when it comes to surveying a potential route through the Old Dominion state. The Virginia Supreme Court on Monday decided NOT to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling that allows pipeline surveyors to access a property WITHOUT the landowner’s permission. That decision means the lower court ruling, which allows surveyors unpermissioned access, to stand…
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Energy Companies | Energy Services | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Bill Allowing Surveyors Private Property Access Fails in WV Senate
March 2, 2016March 2, 2016

In June 2014 EQT and NextEra US Gas Assets formed a joint venture to build a 330-mile pipeline from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA to deliver abundant, cheap Marcellus and Utica Shale gas to markets throughout the southeast (see EQT Announces New Marcellus/Utica Pipeline to Southeastern US). The project is called Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). A number of West Virginia landowners objected to MVP and would not let surveyors on their property, so MVP (i.e. EQT and NextEra) threatened to sue the landowners claiming eminent domain laws to enter their properties (see WV Landowners Say They’re Bullied by Mountain Valley Pipeline). A month later they did sue (see Mountain Valley Pipeline Sues 103 WV Landowners for Survey Access). But it takes a long time to sue individual landowners in hundreds of cases. So somebody talked to somebody and a bill was introduced in the WV Senate this year, Senate Bill (SB) 596–which would allow surveyors to enter private properties to do survey work as long as a notice was sent by certified mail ahead of time. No doubt the bill was in response to the ongoing, thorny issue of surveying for MVP. The bill passed out of committee with a split vote. But the bill was voted down by the full Senate…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp

EQT Floats ~7.5M New Shares of Stock, Hopes to Raise $437M
February 22, 2016February 22, 2016

Last Friday EQT, one of the largest Marcellus and Utica Shale drillers, announced they are floating 6.5 million shares of new common stock, and a potential extra 975,000 shares for the underwriter, Goldman Sachs, for a total of nearly 7.5 million shares. Not long after announcing the stock offering, they made a second announcement of the price–$58.50 per share. If EQT sells all 7,475,000 shares of stock for $58.50 per share, it will net the company $437 million in cash. What will they do with it? It will be used for “general corporate purposes” and potentially to pay down some debt. Here’s the twin announcements from Friday…
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Anadarko | Carrizo Oil & Gas | Chesapeake Energy | Chevron | Citrus | CNX Resources | CONSOL Energy | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Energy Corporation of America | EOG Resources | EQT Corp | EXCO Resources | Exxon Mobil | Pennsylvania General Energy | Range Resources Corp | Rice Energy | Seneca Resources | Shell | Southwestern Energy | Talisman Energy | WPX Energy

Top 20 Marcellus Drillers – Ranked by Environmental Impact
February 17, 2016February 17, 2016

Last Friday MDN brought you the news about a professor who devised a clever formula for evaluating the overall environmental impact of 20 Marcellus drillers (see Mirror Mirror on the Wall, Who’s the Best Driller of Them All?). At the time we only knew who the top and bottom companies are in the list. CONSOL Energy took top honors, while ExxonMobil was last or “least” environmentally friendly as compared with the others. We now have the entire list (below). Where does your favorite driller fall in the list?…
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Bradford County | Chief Oil & Gas | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania | Sullivan County | Washington County

PA Game Commission Cuts $15.5M in Deals to Lease State Land for Drilling
February 16, 2016February 16, 2016

This is something you don’t see often these days: The Pennsylvania Game Commission is getting $15.5 million of revenue from new Marcellus leases with Chief Oil & Gas and EQT. The bulk of the money will come from a deal with Chief to lease 5,870 acres in Bradford and Sullivan counties. Terms of the lease? Chief is paying $2,500 per acre as a signing bonus and 20.55% in royalties when/if they drill and the gas and oil begin to flow. It just about floored us to see this deal! We though all deals were done until the price of gas goes up again. We’d not heard of any new deals being cut. As for EQT, they are paying the Game Commission $917,000 for the right to drill under a 306-acre parcel in Washington County, PA. Details on the per acre bonus and royalty for the EQT deal below…
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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Chesapeake Energy | Chevron | CNX Resources | CONSOL Energy | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Eclipse Resources | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | EXCO Resources | Noble Energy | Range Resources Corp | Seneca Resources | Southwestern Energy

The Dismal Outlook for Marcellus/Utica Drilling in 2016
February 8, 2016February 8, 2016

Yes, it’s bad out there and getting worse–at least in the short term–when it comes to drilling in the Marcellus and Utica Shale. Several major drillers in the northeast have announced cuts–big cuts–and those cuts will impact not only the employees at those companies, but also the many supply chain companies that provide goods and services to them. There were a paltry 19 rigs operating in Pennsylvania last Friday. In January 2014, just two years ago, there were 55 active rigs working in the PA Marcellus. Here’s a recap of who’s cutting how much in 2016 (and perhaps beyond)…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | Reserves (Proved and Unproved)

EQT Proved Developed Reserves Jump 30% in 2015
February 8, 2016February 8, 2016

It’s the time of year when drillers boast about 2015 numbers–specifically how much oil and gas is down there. It’s called “proved reserves” (for a quick tutorial, see Defining O&G Reserves: Proved, Recoverable & In-Place). Last week EQT disclosed that their proved developed reserves jumped up 30% in 2015 over 2014. Below is some interesting information on EQT’s reserves (proved and otherwise) not only for the Marcellus, but for the Utica and Upper Devonian too…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Taxation | Washington County

EQT 20-Well Pad on the Way in Washington County, PA? Maybe!
February 5, 2016February 5, 2016

A recent meeting of the Nottingham Township (Washington County), PA Board of Supervisors proved to be a font of useful information about Marcellus drilling in the town, both past and future. Nottingham currently has three drilling sites, two of which are already active and one future. The two active sites have 11 and 12 wells either drilled or planned to be drilled. According to a local fractivist, the third site, which is planned by EQT, will have 20 wells on it. EQT says the eventual number of wells has not yet been determined (but they didn’t rule out 20 wells). Nottingham shares a border with Peters Township. Peters, you may recall, was one of the seven selfish townships that sued to overturn portions of the Act 13 law dealing with local zoning of oil and gas projects, eventually winning at the PA Supreme Court level (see PA Supreme Court Rules Against State/Drillers in Act 13 Case). Nottingham has active drilling within its borders. Peters has still not allowed any drilling within its borders. Nottingham got $70,000 in impact fee money last year. Peters got $360,000 in impact fee money. What’s up with that?…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Utica Shale

EQT is in Love with the Utica – Comments from Analyst Call
February 5, 2016February 5, 2016

On yesterday’s fourth quarter and full year 2015 analyst phone call, EQT’s upper management positively gushed with affection for the Utica Shale. Steve Schlotterbeck, president of exploration and production for EQT, said, “…we expect the Utica returns in the core area will be competitive with or better than the core Marcellus, and we will work on a plan to include Utica in our future development plans.” Meaning what? EQT will drill fewer Marcellus and more Utica wells? That seems to be the implication. Here’s more of what Steve had to say about the Utica on yesterday’s call…
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