CNX’s Share Buy-Back Program Working – Retired 24% Shares Since 3Q20
CNX Resources CEO Nick DeIuliis is on a mission to reduce the number of outstanding shares of his company’s stock by buying back shares. The aim is to return value to shareholders. When a company buys back shares, it reduces the overall number of outstanding shares, which boosts the price for the remaining shares. In effect, DeIuliis is causing share prices to rise, putting money (and profits) into the pockets of shareholders. Since the third quarter of 2020, CNX has repurchased and retired 24% of the company’s outstanding shares of stock–one of the four top companies in the S&P 500 to do so.
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It’s earnings season, the time when publicly traded companies publish their latest quarterly (and in this case, annual) financial statements–for 4Q22 and all of 2022. Three of the biggest oilfield services (OFS) companies in the world–SLB (formerly Schlumberger), Halliburton, and Baker Hughes–have now issued their quarterly updates. And all three have a common theme: Expect more drilling internationally in 2023, especially in the Middle East and Latin America, but expect about the same amount of drilling (or less) in the U.S. this year.
We spotted an interesting article that says hydrogen (and its derivatives, including ammonia and methanol) are “tilting toward export markets” and that there is a link between hydrogen exports and the production of natural gas. Yeah, we didn’t know that hydrogen is getting exported, either. And while we know that 95% of all hydrogen today comes from cracking natural gas, we didn’t know there is a “link” between hydrogen exports and natgas production. We were intrigued…
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Chesapeake Utilities receives approval to expand natgas in Nassau County, FL; Gas utility’s Minnesota hydrogen pilot ‘good news’ so far, but questions remain; NATIONAL: There has not been a bullish USA data release for 16 weeks; Control of the lives of others is the root of all evil ideas; Republican govs call on Biden to delay implementation of WOTUS.
We love West Virginia. The state continues to fight the good fight against those who insist on trying to defund fossil energy companies. WV’s latest target is the two proxy advisory services, Glass Lewis and International Shareholder Services (ISS), that control some 90% of all corporate proxy voting in the U.S. WV is advancing a new bill, at the prompting of State Treasurer Riley Moore, that the state (including its massive pension fund) will not do business with proxy services that use ESG (environment, social, governance) as a litmus test for how to invest. States like WV (and Florida, and Texas) are changing the game–having an impact.
We simply don’t understand the disturbed minds of the environmental left. Take the recent actions by the leftists at Damascus Citizens for Sustainability (DCS), which is suing the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) after the DRBC adopted most of the rules sought by DCS to permanently block fracking and anything to do with fracking from the Delaware River Basin region. The radicals got 95% of what they wanted, but because it’s not 100%, they are suing in federal court to force the DRBC to start over and achieve 100% of their demands. This is seriously, pathologically, disturbed. We will explain.
Last week Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the Fed will “stick to its knitting” and will NOT wander off the trail into political issues like man-made global warming (i.e. climate change). The purpose and focus of the Federal Reserve is to control inflation via interest rates, thereby strengthening the economy and creating jobs. Powell will not allow the Fed to get caught up in global warming policymaking by forcing banks to require the companies to which they make loans to bow down before the ESG gods. Frankly, we’re surprised and delighted at Powell’s steel backbone on this issue.
There are a fair number of MDN subscribers who read our stories looking for opportunities to find a job in the great Marcellus/Utica industry. We spotted an article that may help. Rigzone talked with several top headhunters that specialize in the energy space. We’ll say right up front we’re not talking about roustabouts and field hands, but scientists and engineers. How do you catch the interest of a potential employer with a resume? How do you impress someone during an interview? And what bad habits should you avoid during your search process?
And so begins the quarterly earnings report season. Yesterday CNX Resources issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2022 update. The company doubled its profits in 4Q22, making $1.2 billion, versus a profit of $630 million in 4Q21. However, as big as the profit was in 4Q, CNX still lost $142 million for the entire year–mainly due to $2.6 billion in losses on derivatives for the year. CNX generated $270 million in free cash flow for 4Q and cumulatively generated $707 million of free cash flow for the entire year. Production took a hit, down to 1.53 MMcfe/d (million cubic feet equivalent per day), compared to 1.72 MMcfe/d in 4Q21. The stated reason for the drop in production was a bad well and the cold snap (freeze-offs) during 4Q.
In February 2022, Equitrans Midstream announced it had filed a new pipeline expansion project with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (see 
Freeport LNG, which has been offline since an explosion and fire in June 2022, asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for permission to begin the restart procedure this past Sunday (see