EQT Corp

Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Companies | Energy Services | EQT Corp | Equitrans/EQT Midstream | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Research | Statewide VA | Statewide WV | Virginia | West Virginia

Sierra Club Attacks Mountain Valley Pipeline with Sham Report
July 8, 2016July 8, 2016

Another day, another attack on natural gas by the radicals of the Sierra Club. In this case, the Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club found a retired geologist they could buy, er, a, hire to write a report slamming the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a $3.5 billion, 301-mile pipeline that will run from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA. The pipeline is due to be built by EQT, NextEra Energy and several other partners. The geologist who sold himself out to the Sierra Club says the pipeline would run through a “karst” area–an area of sinkholes and caves–and building the pipeline could potentially damage the water aquifer in that area. Below is a news report and a copy of the sham report released by the Virginia Sierra Clubbers…
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Energy Companies | Energy Services | EQT Corp | Equitrans/EQT Midstream | Statewide WV | West Virginia

EQT Donates $75,000 to WV Flood Relief Efforts
July 1, 2016July 1, 2016

A few days ago MDN told you how proud we are of the Marcellus/Utica industry for stepping up the plate and donating money (and time) to assist flood victims in West Virginia (see NatGas Industry Steps Up with $350K to Help WV Flood Victims). Add another $75,000 to that number. EQT has just donated $50,000, and EQT’s Mountain Valley Pipeline subsidiary $25,000 to flood relief in WV…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Fayette County | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Wastewater | West Virginia

Federal Judge Rules Fayette County Injection Well Ban Illegal
June 13, 2016June 13, 2016

In January, three liberal Democrat county commissioners from Fayette County, WV, with the backing and help of the radical WV Mountain Party, voted to ban injection wells in the county (see WV County Officially Bans Injection Wells; Children Brainwashed). The ban was intentionally written so broadly it would also ban the operation of more than 500 vertical oil and gas wells in the county. The next day EQT sued to overturn the ban (see EQT Sues WV County that Banned Injection Wells, Seeks Injunction). Not long after, a U.S. District Court judge slapped an injunction on the county preventing them from enforcing the ban at least until a hearing was held (see Judge Stops WV County from Enforcing Injection Well Ban, For Now). One of the chief architects of the ban, from the Mountain Party, admits the ban was intended to stop all oil and gas activity in the county (see Anti Admits Fayette County, WV Ban Aims to Shut Down All O&G Wells). Fearing they would lose the EQT lawsuit, in March the commissioners backed away from the position of banning everything to do with drilling in the county. They revised the proposed ban regulation as a tactic to avoid losing their court case (see Fayette WV Commissioners Change Ban to Focus on Injection Wells). Last Friday a federal judge ruled as we knew he would to toss out Fayette’s illegal ban. That is, EQT just won the case and the taxpayers of Fayette County have three lib Dems to thank for wasting money in legal fees to defend the indefensible…
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Alpha Natural Resources | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Equinor/Statoil | Lease & Royalty Payments | Rice Energy

EQT, Rice Energy Deals Show Price per Acre for Leases Still High
May 4, 2016May 4, 2016

Yesterday MDN brought you the news that EQT has cut a deal to buy all of Norwegian Statoil’s operated Marcellus assets in West Virginia for $407 million (see EQT Buying 62.5K “Core” WV Marcellus Acres from Statoil for $407M). One of MDN’s favorite energy analysts, Richard Zeits, writing on the Seeking Alpha website, does a close examination of the deal. We have a portion of this thoughts below. As part of Zeits’ deep dive on this deal, he takes a side road and compares how much EQT is paying per acre in this deal with the recently announced Rice Energy deal to purchase the Marcellus assets of bankrupt coal company Alpha Natural Resources (see Rice Energy Offers Bankrupt ANR $200M for Marcellus/Utica Assets). Zeits finds the per-acre price being paid by EQT is less than the Rice deal. But the real eye-opener is that the prices each are paying is still quite high–perhaps an indication that once unleased or expired lease acreage heats up again, prices will remain high…
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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…
Read More “EQT Buying 62.5K “Core” WV Marcellus Acres from Statoil for $407M”
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…
Read More “EQT, APP Challenge Rice Energy’s $200M Bid for ANR Shale Assets”
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…
Read More “Top 10 Marcellus/Utica Drillers in SWPA – Ranked by Production”
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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