PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--EQT Corporation (NYSE: EQT) today announced Steven Schlotterbeck,
President and Chief Executive Officer, has resigned from the Company for
personal reasons and stepped down from the Board of Directors, effective
immediately. Mr. Schlotterbeck has also resigned his positions with EQT
GP Holdings, LP (NYSE: EQGP), EQT Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE: EQM) and
Rice Midstream Partners LP (NYSE: RMP).
The Board of Directors has appointed David L. Porges as Interim
President and Chief Executive Officer. Porges previously led EQT as
Executive Chairman from March 2017 until February 2018, Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer from December 2015 to February 2017, and
Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer from May 2011 through
December 2015. He joined EQT in 1998 as Senior Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer. Jerry Ashcroft will replace Mr. Schlotterbeck as the
President and Chief Executive Officer of EQGP, EQM and RMP.
The Board of Directors issued the following statement:
We thank Steve for his dedicated service to EQT and its stakeholders
over the last 18 years. Steve was a valued contributor as EQT
transformed from a regional, retail gas company into the largest natural
gas producer in the United States.
Today, EQT is at an important transition point, and we are confident
that the Company is well positioned to advance its strategy while
implementing the previously announced separation plan. With the support
of a strong and dedicated team, the Company is making solid progress and
remains on track to complete the spinoff by the end of the third quarter
2018.
We are fortunate to have Dave Porges. Dave brings a wealth of experience
and long-established relationships to our leadership team. Dave will
guide the Company during this interim phase, and work with the Board to
search for a new CEO for the independent, public exploration and
production company. As previously announced, the Company’s midstream
businesses will be led by Jerry Ashcroft upon completion of the
separation transaction.
The Company remains confident about its operational prospects and
reaffirms the fiscal year 2018 guidance announced on February 15, 2018.
About EQT Corporation:
EQT Corporation is an integrated energy company with emphasis on
Appalachian area natural gas production, gathering, and transmission.
With nearly 130 years of experience and a long-standing history of good
corporate citizenship, EQT is the largest producer of natural gas in the
United States. As a leader in the use of advanced horizontal drilling
technology, EQT is committed to minimizing the impact of
drilling-related activities and reducing its overall environmental
footprint. Through safe and responsible operations, EQT is helping to
meet our nation’s growing demand for clean-burning energy, while
continuing to provide a rewarding workplace and enrich the communities
where its employees live and work. EQT owns the general partner interest
and a 90% limited partner interest in EQT GP Holdings, LP, which owns
the general partner interest, all of the incentive distribution rights,
and a portion of the limited partner interest in EQT Midstream Partners,
LP. EQT also owns the general partner interest, all of the incentive
distribution rights, and a 28% limited partner interest in Rice
Midstream Partners LP.
Visit EQT Corporation at www.EQT.com;
and to learn more about EQT’s sustainability efforts, please visit https://csr.eqt.com.
About EQT Corporation:
EQT Corporation is an integrated energy company with emphasis on
Appalachian area natural gas production, gathering, and transmission.
With nearly 130 years of experience and a long-standing history of good
corporate citizenship, EQT is the largest producer of natural gas in the
United States. As a leader in the use of advanced horizontal drilling
technology, EQT is committed to minimizing the impact of
drilling-related activities and reducing its overall environmental
footprint. Through safe and responsible operations, EQT is helping to
meet our nation’s growing demand for clean-burning energy, while
continuing to provide a rewarding workplace and enrich the communities
where its employees live and work. EQT owns the general partner interest
and a 90% limited partner interest in EQT GP Holdings, LP, which owns
the general partner interest, all of the incentive distribution rights,
and a portion of the limited partner interest in EQT Midstream Partners,
LP. EQT also owns the general partner interest, all of the incentive
distribution rights, and a 28% limited partner interest in Rice
Midstream Partners LP.
Visit EQT Corporation at www.EQT.com;
and to learn more about EQT’s sustainability efforts, please visit https://csr.eqt.com.
About EQT Midstream Partners:
EQT Midstream Partners, LP is a growth-oriented limited partnership
formed by EQT Corporation to own, operate, acquire, and develop
midstream assets in the Appalachian Basin. The Partnership provides
midstream services to EQT Corporation and third-party companies through
its strategically located transmission, storage, and gathering systems
that service the Marcellus and Utica regions. The Partnership owns
approximately 950 miles of FERC-regulated interstate pipelines; and also
owns approximately 1,800 miles of high-and low-pressure gathering lines.
Visit EQT Midstream Partners, LP at www.eqtmidstreampartners.com.
About EQT GP Holdings:
EQT GP Holdings, LP is a limited partnership that owns the general
partner interest, all of the incentive distribution rights, and a
portion of the limited partner interests in EQT Midstream Partners, LP.
EQT Corporation owns the general partner interest and a 90% limited
partner interest in EQT GP Holdings, LP.
Visit EQT GP Holdings, LP at www.eqtmidstreampartners.com.
About Rice Midstream Partners:
Rice Midstream Partners LP is a fee-based, growth-oriented limited
partnership formed to own, operate, develop and acquire midstream assets
in the Appalachian basin. RMP provides midstream services to EQT
Corporation and third-party companies through its natural gas gathering,
compression, and water assets in the rapidly developing dry gas cores of
the Marcellus and Utica Shales.
Visit Rice Midstream Partners LP at www.ricemidstream.com.
Cautionary Statements
Disclosures in this news release contain certain forward-looking
statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933,
as amended. Statements that do not relate strictly to historical or
current facts are forward-looking. Without limiting the generality of
the foregoing, forward- looking statements contained in this news
release specifically include the expectations of plans, strategies,
objectives and growth and anticipated financial and operational
performance of the Company and its subsidiaries, including whether the
separation of the midstream business and the other potential
transactions which EQT has announced involving the midstream business
are completed, as expected or at all, and the timing of any such
separation and/or transactions; whether the conditions to the separation
and the other transactions involving the midstream business can be
satisfied; whether the operational, financial and strategic benefits of
the separation and the other transactions involving the midstream
business can be achieved; whether the costs and expenses of the
separation and the other transactions involving the midstream business
can be controlled within expectations; guidance regarding the Company's
strategy to develop its Marcellus, Ohio Utica, Upper Devonian and other
reserves; drilling plans and programs (including the number, type,
average lateral length and location of wells to be drilled or
turned-in-line, the number and type of drilling rigs, the number of frac
crews and the number of multi-pad wells); projected production sales
volume and growth rates (including liquids sales volume and growth
rates); projected unit costs, general and administrative expenses,
expense reductions, average differential and net marketing services
revenue; projected adjusted operating cash flow attributable to EQT and
projected adjusted operating cash flow attributable to EQT Production;
projected capital expenditures, capital budget, and sources of funds for
capital expenditures; return on capital; and projected cash flows,
including the ability to fund the 2018 drilling program through cash
from operations, and projected cash flows resulting from the Company’s
partnership interests in EQGP and RMP. These statements involve risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from projected results. Accordingly, investors should not place undue
reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual
results. The Company has based these forward-looking statements on
current expectations and assumptions about future events. While the
Company considers these expectations and assumptions to be reasonable,
they are inherently subject to significant business, economic,
competitive, regulatory and other risks and uncertainties, many of which
are difficult to predict and beyond the Company's control. The risks and
uncertainties that may affect the operations, performance and results of
the Company's business and forward-looking statements include, but are
not limited to, those set forth under Item 1A, "Risk Factors" of the
Company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, as updated by
any subsequent Form 10-Qs.
Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such
statement is made and the Company does not intend to correct or update
any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
Information in this news release regarding EQGP and its subsidiaries,
including EQM, and RMP and its subsidiaries, is derived from publicly
available information published by the partnerships.
Contact:
EQT analyst inquiries:
Patrick Kane, 412-553-7833
Chief Investor Relations Officer
pkane@eqt.com
or
EQM/EQGP/RMP analyst inquiries:
Nate Tetlow, 412-553-5834
Investor Relations Director
ntetlow@eqt.com
or
Media inquiries:
Natalie Cox, 412-395-3941
Corporate Director, Communications
ncox@eqt.com