EQT Wins Bankruptcy Auction Bid To Buy 53,400 Core Marcellus Acres For $527 Mln

(RTTNews) - EQT Corp. (EQT) said that that the company, through its subsidiary EQT Production Company, has won a bankruptcy auction to acquire 53,400 core net Marcellus acres, including drilling rights on 44,100 net acres in the Utica and current natural gas production of about 80 MMcfe per day, from Stone Energy Corp. for $527 million.

Pending final approval by the bankruptcy court at a hearing scheduled for February 10, 2017, the transaction is expected to close on or about February 28, 2017. EQT will finance the acquisition with cash-on-hand.

The acquired acres are within EQT's core liquids-rich development areas -- primarily located in the Wetzel, Marshall, Tyler, and Marion Counties of West Virginia -- and complement the Company's adjacent operations.

The acquisition includes approximately 173 new Marcellus locations. The acreage has an average 85% net revenue interest and 86% is either held by production or has lease expiration terms that extend beyond 2019.

The assets include 174 Marcellus wells - of which 123 wells are developed and 51 are in-progress. Also included are 20 miles of gathering pipeline and an additional 32,000 acres outside the company's core development area.