Energy Companies

Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies

Cabot O&G 3Q – Production & Free Cash Flow Up, Spending Down
October 28, 2019October 28, 2019

Cabot Oil & Gas, one of our favorite Marcellus drillers, continued to impress during 3Q19. The company reports free cash flow popped 150% higher than 3Q18–even though the price of natural gas was down 23% over the same period last year. Production was 2.3 billion cubic feet per day, all of it dry natural gas. They drilled 22 new Marcellus wells (in Susquehanna County, PA) and completed 29 wells, which means they’re drawing down their DUC (drilled but uncompleted) well inventory.
Read More “Cabot O&G 3Q – Production & Free Cash Flow Up, Spending Down”
Energy Companies | Southwestern Energy

Southwestern Energy 3Q – Production Up, Spending Down a Lot
October 28, 2019October 28, 2019

Southwestern Energy, now a pure play driller focused on the Marcellus/Utica since selling off their Fayetteville Shale assets in Sept. 2018, produced 2.2 billion cubic feet equivalent per day (Bcfe/d) of natural gas in 3Q19, up from 2.0 Bcfe/d in 3Q18. (Those numbers remove the Fayetteville to compare apples to apples.) Southwestern drilled 24 new Marcellus and/or Utica wells and completed 30 wells in 3Q, which means, like other drillers, they continue to draw down their DUC (drilled but uncompleted) well inventory. Unlike Cabot which produces 100% dry gas, some 22% of Southwestern’s production was natural gas liquids.
Read More “Southwestern Energy 3Q – Production Up, Spending Down a Lot”
Carroll County | Columbiana County | Encino Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Ohio

Ohio Landowners Sue Encino Energy for Shorting Royalties
October 25, 2019April 20, 2022

Landowners in Carroll and Columbiana counties (Ohio) have filed a class action lawsuit against Encino Energy claiming the company underpaid oil and natural gas royalties. Last November Encino Acquisition Partners (i.e. Encino Energy) completed its purchase of all of Chesapeake Energy’s Ohio Utica Shale assets for $2 billion (see Stop Press: Chesapeake Sells ALL of its Ohio Utica Assets for $2B). The deal included all of Chesapeake’s 933,000 Ohio acres–with 320,000 net Utica acres–and 920 operated and non-operated Ohio Utica wells.
Read More “Ohio Landowners Sue Encino Energy for Shorting Royalties”
Energy Companies | Southwestern Energy

Southwestern Energy Lands Another “Responsible Gas” Customer
October 25, 2019October 25, 2019

In September 2018 MDN brought you the news that Southwestern Energy had, for the first time anywhere, sold natural gas to a customer (utility company New Jersey Resources) that has been certified as “responsible gas.” The certification comes from Independent Energy Standards Corporation (IES) and they call it their TrustWell™ Responsible Gas Program certification (see Southwestern Sells 1st Certified “Responsible Gas” to NJ Resources). It looks like they’ve landed another customer for their “responsible” gas: Virginia Natural Gas.
Read More “Southwestern Energy Lands Another “Responsible Gas” Customer”
Allegheny County | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Meetings | Pennsylvania

Shale Insight Day 1: Fireside Chat with Toby Rice of EQT
October 24, 2019October 24, 2019

Dave Spigelmyer (left) and Dan Rice

Shale Insight 2019, being held in Pittsburgh on Wednesday and Thursday, kicked off with a “fireside chat” between Marcellus Shale Coalition President Dave Spigelmyer and EQT CEO Toby Rice. While President Trump’s visit later in the day was certainly a highlight and focus (who doesn’t want to tell their kids and grand kids they saw the President?!), we would say, in all honesty, that the bigger highlight for those in the industry was the opportunity to hear Toby Rice. We would say his talk was more anticipated than Trump’s visit.
Read More “Shale Insight Day 1: Fireside Chat with Toby Rice of EQT”
Energy Companies | Range Resources Corp

Range Sells Another 0.5% Royalty Interest for $150M
October 22, 2019October 21, 2019

In July MDN brought you the news that Range Resources had sold a 2% overriding royalty interest on 350,000 acres “in southwest Appalachia” for $600 million (see Range Resources Sells 2% Royalty Interest + 20K Acres for $634M). Range’s announcement did not identify who, exactly, was the company doing the purchasing. Lime Rock Resources later self-identified as the buyer (see Mystery Solved: Lime Rock Buyer of 2% Royalty Interest in Range). Range has just done it again–sold off another 0.5% (one-half of one percent) of an overriding royalty interest for another $150 million.
Read More “Range Sells Another 0.5% Royalty Interest for $150M”
Energy Companies | EQT Corp

Rice Boys’ First 100 Days at EQT – Where Do Things Stand?
October 21, 2019October 21, 2019

Last Friday, Oct. 18, was the 100th day since Toby and Derek Rice took over the leadership at EQT, the country’s largest natural gas-producing company. The Rice boys won a proxy fight in July to elect a new board (and themselves) to lead the company (see Rice Bros. Win Proxy War to Control EQT – Toby Rice New CEO). Prior to winning, Toby Rice touted a “100-day plan” to turn the company around. How is that plan going?
Read More “Rice Boys’ First 100 Days at EQT – Where Do Things Stand?”
Empire Pipeline | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Erie County | Pennsylvania | Seneca Resources

NFG’s New CEO David Bauer Schools Reporter on Benefits of NatGas
October 21, 2019October 21, 2019

NFG’s new CEO David Bauer

Last week National Fuel Gas Company’s new CEO David Bauer, who just took the reins of the company from the previous CEO Ronald Tanski in July (see NFG CEO Tanski Retiring in July, Replacement Named), attended a luncheon in Erie, PA. He spoke to a local reporter to answer questions about NFG and the industry at large. Although NFG is a large utility company, it also owns Seneca Resources, a shale driller, and Empire Pipeline. The conversation with the reporter mostly centered on shale questions.
Read More “NFG’s New CEO David Bauer Schools Reporter on Benefits of NatGas”
Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Exxon Mobil | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants

Exxon Mobil Sniffing Around SWPA to Build Second Cracker Plant
October 16, 2019October 16, 2019

Leave it to ace reporter Paul Gough from the Pittsburgh Business Times to unearth some earth-shattering news–that ExxonMobil is actively looking at locations in Beaver County, Pennsylvania to potentially build a second multi-billion dollar cracker plant. Shell is already well along in building the region’s first ethane cracker–in Monaca (Beaver County). Will lightning strike twice for the good citizens of Beaver County? Maybe!
Read More “Exxon Mobil Sniffing Around SWPA to Build Second Cracker Plant”
CNX Resources | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA DEP Reaches $1.48M Settlement with CNX to Plug Abandoned Wells
October 15, 2019October 15, 2019

Last year the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued administrative orders requiring three oil and gas companies–Alliance Petroleum Corporation (a subsidiary of Diversified Gas & Oil), XTO Energy, and CNX Resources–to plug 1,058 abandoned oil and gas wells across Pennsylvania (see PA DEP Orders CNX, XTO & Diversified to Plug 1,058 Abandoned Wells). All three appealed the DEP’s order to the state Environmental Hearing Board. In March of this year the DEP cut a deal with Diversified (see DEP and Diversified Gas & Oil Compromise on Plugging Old PA Wells). As of last week, the DEP has now cut a deal with CNX, relaxing their earlier edict.
Read More “PA DEP Reaches $1.48M Settlement with CNX to Plug Abandoned Wells”
EdgeMarc Energy | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

EdgeMarc Creditors Ask Judge to Change Bankruptcy from Ch 11 to 7
October 11, 2019October 11, 2019

Difference between Chapter 7 & 11 (click for larger version)

EdgeMarc Energy, headquartered in Canonsburg, PA (with 50,000 acres of Marcellus/Utica leases), filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May, looking to sell all of the company’s assets (see EdgeMarc Energy Files for Bankruptcy, Blames Revolution Pipe). The reason? They can’t move their production to market because their main pipeline partner, Energy Transfer’s Revolution Pipeline, exploded in September 2018 and ET has not been able to get the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection to allow them to fix and restart it.
Read More “EdgeMarc Creditors Ask Judge to Change Bankruptcy from Ch 11 to 7”
Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Somerset County | Taxation | Xtreme Energy

PA DEP Shuts Down 2 Marcellus Wells for Not Paying Impact Tax
October 10, 2019October 10, 2019

Xtreme Energy Co., headquartered in Victoria, Texas, has been ordered by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) to shut down/stop producing at two Marcellus wells operated by the company located in Somerset County, PA, in the southwestern part of the state. Why? Because, says the DEP, Xtreme has not paid its impact fee (i.e. severance tax) for those wells for 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Read More “PA DEP Shuts Down 2 Marcellus Wells for Not Paying Impact Tax”
Energy Companies | EQT Corp

All of EQT’s Previous Top Management, Save One, is Now Gone
October 9, 2019October 9, 2019

Donald M. “Blue” Jenkins

Beauty (and truth) is in the eye of the beholder. During the proxy fight earlier this year to control EQT’s board–and ultimately its management team–Toby Rice threw some sharp barbs including talk that EQT’s existing management was not up to the task of effectively running the company. The Rice boys said so, their board nominees said so, and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) said so. There will be change (i.e. personnel change) at the “operational level” said ISS. Imagine our surprise when, after assuming control, Toby said there would *not* be a wholesale replacement of top management (see Toby Rice, EQT’s New CEO, is NOT Cleaning House re Top Management). We guess it depends on what you mean by “top management,” because as of now, seven of the then eight members of the senior management team at EQT are gone. What about the last survivor?
Read More “All of EQT’s Previous Top Management, Save One, is Now Gone”
Empire Pipeline | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Erie County (NY) | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Niagara County | Pipelines | Regulation | Seneca Resources | Statewide NY

NFG On Track to Build Northern Access Pipe in NY in 2022/23
October 8, 2019October 8, 2019

National Fuel Gas Company (NFG), the utility and midstream giant based in Buffalo, NY, remains committed to building it’s Northern Access Pipeline project, a $500 million project that includes building 97 miles of new pipeline along a power line corridor from northwestern Pennsylvania up to Erie County, NY. The project also calls for 3 miles of new pipeline further up, in Niagara County, along with a new compressor station in the Town of Pendleton. Although New York State (under the profoundly corrupt Andrew Cuomo) continues to try and block the project, NFG says they will build it–in the 2022-23 time frame.
Read More “NFG On Track to Build Northern Access Pipe in NY in 2022/23”
Energy Companies | Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | PennEnergy Resources | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA

PennEnergy Sues Energy Transfer re Revolution Pipeline Explosion
October 7, 2019April 20, 2022

Revolution Pipeline, built by Energy Transfer, runs through Bulter, Beaver, Allegheny and Washington counties in southwest PA. The 24-inch gathering pipeline shifted and exploded more than a year ago, in September 2018, just as it was entering service (see Revolution Pipeline Near Pittsburgh Explodes – Home & Barn Destroyed). The ongoing outage is credited with forcing EdgeMarc Energy into bankruptcy (see EdgeMarc Energy Files for Bankruptcy, Blames Revolution Pipe). The outage also negatively affects another driller/producer: PennEnergy Resources.
Read More “PennEnergy Sues Energy Transfer re Revolution Pipeline Explosion”
Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Greene County (PA) | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania

PA DCNR Leases SWPA Creek for $4K/Acre, 20% Royalties
October 7, 2019October 7, 2019

It’s not often (these days) we come across a new instance of publicly-known leasing terms in the Marcellus/Utica. We like to highlight such cases when we see them. In Saturday’s Pennsylvania Bulletin, the state Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), the agency in charge of state-owned land, published details of a newly signed lease for 40.6 acres of creekbed in Greene County, PA. The DCNR got its standard $4,000 per acre signing bonus plus will get a 20% royalty from any gas produced. Who did they lease to? And why do we object to this practice so strenuously? To learn those details, you need an MDN subscription…
Read More “PA DCNR Leases SWPA Creek for $4K/Acre, 20% Royalties”