EQT Corp

Energy Companies | Energy Services | EQT Corp | Equitrans/EQT Midstream

EQT Midstream 2Q15: Lots of Pipeline Projects Still Coming
July 24, 2015July 24, 2015

While EQT Midstream numbers were included in today’s MDN story about EQT’s second quarter financial and operating results, the company also issued a second, separate update for EQT Midstream. We include a portion of that update below because it outlines the many pipeline projects the company is actively pursuing with their investment dollars. Those projects include building the new Allegheny Valley Connector; expanding existing gathering systems, including the Jupiter and Northern WV Marcellus Gathering systems; investment in the Ohio Valley Connector; investment in the Antero Resources east side expansion project; building the Mountain Valley Pipeline; and a new project announced yesterday–a new natural gas header pipeline for Range Resources (see today’s story on the Range announcement)…
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Energy Companies | Energy Services | EQT Corp | Equitrans/EQT Midstream | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Range Resources Corp | Statewide PA | Washington County

EQT Midstream Building $250 Million Pipeline – for Range Resources!
July 24, 2015July 24, 2015

In a show of “coopetition” or cooperative competition, EQT Midstream, a division of major Marcellus/Utica driller EQT Corporation, is going to build a $250 million, 32-mile “header pipeline” for arch-rival Range Resources in southwestern Pennsylvania to “support Range’s dry Marcellus and Utica development.” The new pipeline, which will be built in two phases in 2016 and 2017, will provide Range with more than half a billion cubic feet of natural capacity per day…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Why Haven’t Anti Groups Opposed Andrew Place for PA PUC?
June 15, 2015June 15, 2015

Surprisingly, a very perceptive article in the Harrisburg Patriot-News asks the question, Why hasn’t there been a peep on the part of anti-drillers over the nomination of EQT’s Andrew Place to become a member of the board for the state’s Public Utility Commission (PUC)? Indeed, it’s a great question. EQT is a major Marcellus Shale driller based in Pittsburgh. The PUC is charged with collecting impact fees from shale drillers. The author of the article says imagine this headline, if it were 2014: “Corbett administration taps shale industry exec for key regulatory post.” Mainstream (Democrat) media would have a field day! We would have been treated to nonstop exposés on how Tom Corbett is in the back pocket of the drilling industry…political payoff…political patronage…backroom dealing…conflict of interest…et cetera ad nauseam. A year later it’s a Democrat governor doing the appointing, so the obedient Democrat media hasn’t breathed a word questioning the appointment. We’ve seen wingnut groups disagree with Wolf when it comes to drilling–they’d rather have no drilling than tax it, given the option. So why are these same “environmental” groups, like PennFuture which is opposed to the drilling industry and anyone/anything connected to it, apparently OK with the nomination of Andrew Place?…
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Energy Companies | Energy Services | EQT Corp | Equitrans/EQT Midstream

EQT Midstream IPO Nets $621M, “Better than Expected”
May 20, 2015May 20, 2015

A few weeks ago MDN brought you the news that EQT was floating yet another initial public offering (IPO), this time doing it with a newly formed subsidiary (EQT GP) with an eye to selling more ownership in its midstream division (see EQT Floats IPO to Sell Off Some Ownership of Midstream Division). We used EQT’s existing stock price as a potential yardstick to measure what they might bring in. We thought on the low end it might be $1 billion. We were off, by a lot. We thought they would look for $50 per unit (think share of stock). Instead, they were looking for $21-$24 per unit. When the units went on sale, they got $27 per unit, which was more than they expected…
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Energy Companies | Energy Services | EQT Corp | Equitrans/EQT Midstream

EQT Floats IPO to Sell Off Some Ownership of Midstream Division
May 5, 2015May 5, 2015

Looks like the mad dash to raise cash has not yet ended. Major Marcellus driller and midstream company EQT announced yesterday they are, using a subsidiary company (EQT GP Holdings) floating an initial public offering of 20 million units (roughly equivalent to shares of stock). The new company, EQT GP, is a holding company that will invest the money it raises into EQT’s midstream operations. On paper EQT’s midstream operations are run by a different entity with the stock ticker symbol of EQM (EQT Midstream). It’s all under one roof, but split on paper for tax and high finance purposes. If you net it all out, it appears to us (warning: we are neophytes with this high finance stuff) that EQT is selling off some of the ownership of EQT Midstream without exactly saying so. How much does EQT hope to raise? They don’t say in the announcement (below). But EQM’s current stock price is running at $86.45 per share as of close of business yesterday. Let’s say EQT gets, oh, $70 per unit for this new IPO. That would be a huge $1.4 billion. What if they get just $50 per unit? That would be an even $1 billion. However you slice it, EQT is looking to raise some major cash by selling off ownership of EQM…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Greene County (PA) | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Sand/Proppant | West Virginia | Wetzel County

EQT Call: Fracking 1st Utica Well in June; Changing Proppant
April 29, 2015April 28, 2015

Last week MDN brought you EQT’s report on their first quarter earnings and performance (see EQT 1Q15: Production Volume Up 37%, but Price Received Down 33%). As is often the case with publicly traded companies, EQT’s top management hopped on an analyst phone call to discuss the results. And as sometimes happens, extra details came out on the call. During last Friday’s call, EQT management revealed in prepared comments and in a series of questions and answers that: (1) the company will begin fracking its first Utica well (in Greene County, PA) in early June; (2) the second Utica well EQT plans to drill will be in Wetzel County, WV; and (3) the company is considering a change to ceramic proppant instead of using sand–a move that will cost them an average of $2.5 million more per well than what they pay now using sand…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp

EQT 1Q15: Production Volume Up 37%, but Price Received Down 33%
April 24, 2015April 24, 2015

EQT, one of the big drillers in the Marcellus (and Utica) Shale region, released a financial and operational update for first quarter 2015. It shows the company’s production increased 37% year over year, but the price they received for natural gas decreased 33% year over year. Consequently, EQT’s net income for 1Q15 dropped 9.8% from what it was in 1Q14–$173.4 million in 1Q15 vs $192.2 million in 1Q14. EQT has a major midstream (pipelines) division. Revenue for the midstream division was 38% higher than a year ago, meaning overall EQT’s net income would have been a lot worse if not for its midstream operations. As other companies have done, EQT has once again lowered its capital budget for 2015–another $150 million. They now plan to spend $2.05B instead of the originally announced $2.5B…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pipelines | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Why Some WV Landowners Resist MVP Pipeline: Threats & Low $$
April 20, 2015April 20, 2015

Two weeks ago MDN told you that EQT, NextEra US Gas Assets and their Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project have sued 103 West Virginia landowners to force them to allow access to their property so they can survey it for potential paths for the MVP (see Mountain Valley Pipeline Sues 103 WV Landowners for Survey Access). MVP is a 330-mile pipeline that will stretch from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA. But landowners in, of all places, WV seem to be turning against the pipeline. There are so many projects underway in WV and other Marcellus/Utica areas, it almost seems as if there is pipeline fatigue setting in. Make no mistake, pipelines like the MVP are desperately needed to move large volumes of Marcellus/Utica gas to markets outside of the immediate region. Without the pipelines, the drilling will stop–which is what anti-drillers want to happen. But sometimes otherwise supportive landowners are not so supportive of a given pipeline project. Let’s get an inside perspective to better understand some of the reasons why…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pipelines | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Mountain Valley Pipeline Sues 103 WV Landowners for Survey Access
April 7, 2015April 7, 2015

A month ago MDN told you that some West Virginia landowners were complaining about strong-arm tactics being used by EQT and NextEra US Gas Assets and their Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project to build a 330-mile pipeline from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA (see WV Landowners Say They’re Bullied by Mountain Valley Pipeline). At the time, MVP threatened to sue over 100 landowners who were not allowing their survey crews access in order to survey and find the best path for the pipeline. It’s not a threat any more. Last Friday MVP filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Beckley, WV asking the court to force three corporations and 103 other property owners in 10 WV counties to let survey crews on their land. As we pointed out a month ago, such a lawsuit depends on eminent domain. The problem is, MVP isn’t yet approved by FERC, so the right of eminent domain doesn’t exist yet–at least that’s our understanding of how it works…
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Chesapeake Energy | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Southwestern Energy | Statewide PA

Envelope Please: Top 5 PA Marcellus Shale Gas Producers for 2014
April 7, 2015April 7, 2015

Who were the top 5 natural gas producers in Pennsylvania for all of 2014? The names of the companies won’t surprise you if you’ve read MDN for any length of time. But the order of the list may surprise you, and the number of active wells for some of them likely will surprise you…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Kentucky | Regulation

Kentucky Fracking One Step Closer: Commission Considers 1st Permit
March 16, 2015March 16, 2015

In January, MDN told you that shale drilling/fracking may soon come to Kentucky (see Fracking on the Way in the Bluegrass State? Quite Possibly). Several weeks ago the Kentucky Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, a group that “rarely meets” (last meeting was in 2006) held a meeting to consider granting Kentucky’s very first deep horizontal natural gas drilling permit. The company applying for the permit is Horizontal Technology Energy Company, a subsidiary of Pittsburgh-based EQT. Horizontal Technology wants to drill a well in the Rogersville Shale in the eastern part of the state. No word yet on the result of that meeting…
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Energy Companies | Energy Services | EQT Corp | Equitrans/EQT Midstream

EQT Midstream Swims Against the Tide, Issues Units Instead of Notes
March 13, 2015March 13, 2015

As we’ve commented a number of times, we don’t pretend to understand all of this high finance stuff when it comes to oil and gas companies and how they decide to fund future development. Sometimes they sell shares of stock. Sometimes they sell “units”–which are the equivalent of shares of stock for companies organized as a master limited partnership (or MLP). Sometimes they borrow money in a revolving loan (line of credit). And sometimes they float notes, what we tongue-in-cheek call IOUs. Lately there have been a rash of companies, many of them midstream (pipelines and processing plants) floating notes to get more cash through the door. We spotted one that’s different (different always stands out). EQT Midstream, a subsidiary of driller EQT but a company (on paper) that’s independent, just announced they’re issuing 8.25 million new units (i.e. like shares of stock), with an option of issuing an additional 1.2 million units. Issuing units (or shares of stock) is equity financing–selling ownership in the company, whereas notes and lines of credit is debt financing. Which is better? Ask a CFO. We have a built-in bias to avoid debt, but that’s just us…
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Energy Companies | Energy Services | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | WGL Holdings

Mountain Valley Pipeline Picks Up 2 New Investors/Partners
March 12, 2015March 12, 2015

Yesterday we told you that some landowners in West Virginia are not happy with what they call threatening letters coming from the Mountain Valley Pipeline (see WV Landowners Say They’re Bullied by Mountain Valley Pipeline). MVP is a 330-mile pipeline from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA. It’s a joint venture between EQT and NextEra US Gas Assets. At least it was a jv between the two until yesterday when MVP announced two more partners/investors: WGL Midstream and Vega Midstream. Who’s on top? EQT owns 55% (and manages) the jv, NextEra owns 35%, WGL will own 7% and Vega 3%. Here’s the announcement from yesterday…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation | West Virginia | Wetzel County

WV Landowners Say They’re Bullied by Mountain Valley Pipeline
March 11, 2015March 11, 2015

Last June 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 new pipeline was dubbed the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project. Since that time, MVP has filed paperwork with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which has jurisdiction on whether or not to build it because the pipeline crosses state lines (see EQT’s WV to VA Pipeline Open Season a Success, FERC Filing in Oct). In February, rumors began to bubble that the pipeline is changing its route (see WV to VA Mountain Valley Pipeline Changing Routes?). There has been some resistance, as there always is, on the part of some landowners who refuse to let surveyors on their property. So MVP sent letters to landowners threatening to sue them if they don’t allow the surveyors access. How can they sue? Using the power of eminent domain–but FERC hasn’t yet approved the project which would trigger the right to use eminent domain…
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Energy Companies | Energy Services | EQT Corp | Equitrans/EQT Midstream | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Statewide WV | West Virginia

EQT Sells WV Pipeline Gathering System to Itself for $1B
March 11, 2015March 11, 2015

We’re always somewhat amused by these stories. Sometimes a company will spin off a division into its own company–a subsidiary–and later transfer or “sell” certain assets to the subsidiary. On paper the subsidiary is its own company with its own set of investors, its own board, and its own management. But the primary investor with controlling interest remains the mother company. For all practical purposes, the subsidiary IS the same company as the mother company. Midstream companies tend to do this with some regularity. Back in 2012 we noted that Kinder Morgan did it (see Kinder Morgan Sells Tennessee Pipeline to Itself). This week it’s EQT–selling its Northern West Virginia Marcellus Gathering System, along with a “preferred interest” in another EQT subsidiary, for $1.05 billion to the company’s pipeline subsidiary, EQT Midstream Partners…
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American Energy Partners | EQT Corp | Equinor/Statoil | Gastar Exploration | HG Energy | Stone Energy | Triad Hunter | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Who’s Still Leasing Land and Where in WV?
March 10, 2015March 10, 2015

Who’s leasing land for drilling–and where? Perhaps the bigger question is, are drillers still leasing land?! The answer to that would be a resounding “yes, they are still leasing.” We don’t have a comprehensive overview of where people are leasing, but we spotted a list of leases filed with the clerk in Wetzel County, WV and found it interesting. Here’s who leased, how much acreage, and which energy company they signed with (sorry, no lease terms with signing bonuses and royalties, just acreage & driller)…
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