EQT Corporation

From Wikimarcellus

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) is an integrated energy company focusing on natural gas operations in the Appalachian Basin. It was formerly known as Equitable Resources Inc., and assumed its present name in February 2009. It holds a total Appalachian leasehold of 3.4 million acres prospective for various plays including Marcellus shale, Huron and coal-bed methane (CBM). According to a late-January, 2010 company update, it controls 445,000 acres in the core high pressure Marcellus shale play.

Of the above total EQT controls drilling rights to roughly 400,000 acres of land prospective for Marcellus shale gas in western Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia.

As of October, 2008 EQT had drilled thirteen Marcellus wells. Nine were vertical wells and four horizontal ones.

The same report mentioned that EQT had also drilled a couple of Utica shale wells: one vertical and one horizontal in Wetzel County, West Virginia. A 3rd Quarter, 2008 company update mentioned that these two wells had been at least temporarily sidelined.

An April, 2009 update from EQT noted that during the first quarter of 2009 the company had completed its first fractured horizontal Huron shale well. It also had drilled 52 horizontal Huron wells that were not fractured. Also during the first quarter it had drilled four vertical and four horizontal Marcellus shale wells.

        EQT Partial 1st Quarter 2009 Drilling Program Results
                                     Length         Initial        Well
                          Target    of Test      Production        Cost   
  Location     Type        Shale     (Days)        (MMcf/d)      ($mil)
Greene Co PA   Hor.      Marcellus     30             2.2          5.5
Wash. Co PA      "           "        <30            unkwn.         "
   (WV?)     Multi/frac    Huron       30             0.85         1.8
same bore      Multi     Cleveland     30             0.75         0.9
 

The company specializes in horizontal air drilling and pioneered the use of this approach in the Marcellus shale formation. All but two of EQT's thirteen Marcellus wells were drilled using air.

According to a July, 2009 report, EQT planned to build up the capacity of its Equitrans Pipeline in the Marcellus shale region. It also expected to drill 41 Marcellus wells by the end of 2009. Update #1: A September, 2009 company press release mentioned that EQT Midstream, a division of EQT, had been conducting an open season for Equitrans as well as EQT's Marcellus shale pipeline gathering system in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Update #2: A December, 2009 indicated that the open season had been successful, and 1.1 MmDth/d of commitments had been received.

A news article appeared in August, 2009 stating that EQT Production Co. had filed a notice with the Susquehanna River Basin Commission for withdrawal of up to 75,000 gallons per day from BCI Municipal Authority in Clearfield County, PA. It had also applied to withdraw up to 30,000 gallons per day from Burnside Borough for drilling a well at its Hurd drilling pad site.

A September, 2009 report found EQT having received permits for drilling in northwest Pennsylvania's Clarion County. The company had obtained DEP permits for two horizontal wells in Elk Township on Knight Town Road located between Pine City and Shippenville. A permit had also been approved for one vertical well in Toby Township. At the time of the report, heavy equipment had already been brought in and was in the process of preparing the well sites.

A December, 2009 company update indicated that EQT planned to drill 40 Marcellus shale wells during 2010. By late January, 2010, that was amended to "40 to 50" wells that were planned.

According to the same late January, 2010 company update, EQT had drilled 53 horizontal wells since the start of its Marcellus shale drilling program. 17 of these were producing to sales. The company had drilled one well in Greene Co., PA called the 167 well that had initially produced 12 Mmcf/d for the first 37 days. It had a 3,000 ft. lateral and a 9 stage completion. It appeared to be one of the most prolific wells in the entire play. Two adjacent wells, the 168 and 170, looked to be quite prolific too. 30 day IPs on them were not yet available. EQT planned to drill 12 wells within a 2 mile radius of these initial ones on 3 different pads. All told, the company had 380 potential well locations in Greene Co.

The company was producing to sales from 10 Marcellus wells in West Virginia. Inital IPs on these wells had averaged 2.1 Mmcf/d. EQT believed the economic return on these West Virginia wells was likely to be very good, because their decline curves were more favorable than in other parts of the play.

EQT had become increasingly reliant on horizontal air drilling especially in the Huron shale. A third of its current production came from horizontal wells drilled with air. The company had drilled 821 Huron Berea wells since the inception of its program in 2006. The company was using longer and longer laterals in this formation sometimes with as many as 22 or more stages. The laterals ran from 3,000 to 6.000 feet long.

• Murry S. Gerber is Chairman and CEO of EQT Corporation.
• Dave Porges is EQT President and COO.
• Phil Conti is Senior Vice President and CFO.
• Randall Crawford is President of EQT's Midstream & Distribution.
• Kevin West is Managing Director of External Affairs.
• Pat Kane is Chief Investor Relations Officer.