ESG REPORT
About EQT
EQT Corporation (NYSE: EQT) is a leading independent natural gas production company with operations in the Marcellus and Utica Shales in the Appalachian Basin, one of the lowest carbon-intensive and methane-intensive basins in the United States. We are dedicated to responsibly developing our world‑class asset base and being the operator of choice for our stakeholders. Our culture prioritizes operational efficiency, technology, and sustainability and we look to continuously improve the way we produce environmentally responsible, reliable, and low-cost energy. We have a longstanding commitment to the safety of our employees, contractors, and communities and to the reduction of our overall environmental footprint. Our values — Trust, Teamwork, Heart, and Evolution — are evident in the way we operate and in how we interact each day.
Our mission is to realize the full potential of EQT to become the operator of choice for all of our stakeholders.
As the largest producer of natural gas in the United States, we are responsible for producing the equivalent of over one minute of every hour of electricity consumed in the United States. We are dedicated to evolving energy and enhancing the critical role that natural gas plays in the future energy mix, both domestically and abroad.
Our business model and corporate strategy are rooted in the tenets of technological innovation, data transparency, and efficiency — geared toward maximizing the value derived from our assets while minimizing the impact of our operations on the environment. We strive to improve the way we work, maintain a rewarding and collaborative workplace, and actively engage with our landowners and the communities where our employees live and work and where we operate. Furthermore, we are focused on testing the boundaries of what is possible in operational performance and leveraging technological and human capital to execute our combo-development strategy, leading to a step-change in operational efficiency.
In 2021, we had 1,858 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent (Bcfe) in sales volume, a 24% increase compared to 2020. As of December 31, 2021, we had 25.0 trillion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent of proved natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and crude oil reserves across approximately 2.0 million gross acres, including approximately 1.7 million gross acres located in in the Marcellus Shale. Approximately 99% of our gross production is natural gas and, if EQT were a country, we would be the twelfth largest producer of natural gas in the world.[1] With 693 employees as of December 31, 2021, we generated approximately $3.1 billion in total operating revenues in 2021.
We have historically been involved in, and anticipate that we will continue to explore, opportunities to create value through strategic transactions whether through mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, or similar business transactions. For example, in the fourth quarter of 2020, we acquired upstream assets and an investment in midstream gathering assets located in the Appalachian Basin (collectively, the Chevron Assets) from Chevron U.S.A. Inc. (Chevron) for an aggregate purchase price of $735 million (the Chevron Acquisition). The Chevron Acquisition closed on November 30, 2020 and had an effective date of July 1, 2020. Given the end of year closing of the Chevron Acquisition, in our Calendar Year 2020 ESG Report we separately disclosed certain 2020 production and emissions data related to the Chevron Assets. In this year’s report, we have restated our 2020 production and emissions data to include the 2020 production and emissions values from the Chevron Assets with our data. Accordingly, all of our data disclosed in this report now includes data from the acquired Chevron Assets.
Additionally, in the third quarter of 2021, we acquired strategic assets located in the Appalachian Basin (the Alta Assets) from Alta Resources Development, LLC (Alta) for total consideration of $1.0 billion in cash and 98,789,388 shares of EQT common stock (the Alta Acquisition). The Alta Acquisition closed on July 21, 2021 and had an effective date of January 1, 2021. Data from the Alta Assets is included in this report as part of our data; however, production and sales volumes and emissions data related to the Alta Assets have been disclosed separate from our 2021 data.
Unless otherwise noted, all references to “EQT,” “EQT Corporation,” “we,” “our,” or “us” in this report refer collectively to EQT Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries.
[1] Based on billion cubic feet per day production data from IHS Markit as of December 31, 2021.
Markets and Products
The natural gas supply chain, from discovery to market delivery, is a complex series of activities. For end users to receive natural gas or natural gas-derived products, the resource must first be found and produced. We have investments within this phase of the value chain — including drilling, completion, pumping and gas field service providers, casings for drilling, and information technology products.
We produce natural gas and, to a lesser extent, NGLs sold as a commodity to marketers, utilities, power generators, and industrial customers in the Appalachian Basin and in other markets accessible through our current transportation portfolio. Our transportation portfolio includes markets in the Gulf Coast, the Midwest and Northeast United States, and Canada. As of December 31, 2021, approximately 50% of our sales volumes reached markets outside Appalachia. We also contract with certain processors to market a portion of our NGLs on our behalf.
In 2021, we spent over $1.3 billion with 1,784 suppliers. Of our total supplier spend, approximately 48% was spent inside our operational footprint while the remaining 52% went to suppliers outside our operating area. See Community Impacts and Safety for additional information.
Our value chain is illustrated below.
Reserves and Production
The tables below show our gross production and net sales volume data, using various standard industry denominations[1] for measuring volumes of natural gas, oil/condensate, and NGLs.
Gross Production[2]
|
|
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 (EQT) |
2021 (Alta Assets) |
|
Natural Gas |
|||||
|
Bcfe |
1,739 |
1,802 |
1,919 |
1,942 |
222 |
| MBOE | 289,814 | 300,293 | 319,821 | 323,750 | 37,064 |
| MMcf | 1,738,883 | 1,801,755 | 1,918,923 | 1,942,499 | 222,384 |
|
Oil/Condensate |
|||||
|
Bcfe |
4 | 5 | 19 | 21 | 0 |
| MBOE | 680 | 820 | 3,199 | 3,542 | 0 |
| Mbbl | 680 | 820 | 3,199 | 3,542 | 0 |
|
Total Gross Production |
|||||
| Bcfe | 1,743 | 1,807 | 1,938 | 1,964 | 222 |
| MBOE | 290,494 | 301,113 | 323,019 | 327,292 | 37,064 |
In 2021, our daily gross production averages (excluding production from the Alta Assets) were as follows (based on a 365-day year):
- Natural gas: 5,322 MMcf/day
- Oil/Condensate: 10 Mbbl/day
Net Sales Volume[3]
|
|
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 (EQT) |
2021 (Alta Assets) |
|
Natural Gas |
|||||
|
Bcfe |
1,387 | 1,435 | 1,531 | 1,576 | 370 |
| MBOE | 231,120 | 239,189 | 255,140 | 262,608 | 61,735 |
| MMcf | 1,386,718 | 1,435,134 | 1,530,829 | 1,575,650 | 370,409 |
|
Oil |
|||||
|
Bcfe |
4 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 0 |
| MBOE | 680 | 822 | 1,623 | 1,625 | 0 |
| Mbbl | 680 | 822 | 1,623 | 1,625 | 0 |
|
NGLs (including ethane) |
|||||
| Bcfe | 97 | 68 | 96 | 102 | 0 |
| MBOE | 16,148 | 11,305 | 16,043 | 16,958 | 0 |
| Mbbl | 16,148 | 11,305 | 16,043 | 16,958 | 0 |
|
Total Net Sales Volume |
|||||
| Bcfe | 1,488 | 1,508 | 1,637 | 1,688 | 370 |
| MBOE | 247,948 | 251,316 | 272,806 | 281,191 | 61,735 |
In 2021, our daily net sales volume averages (excluding volume from the Alta Assets) were as follows (based on a 365-day year):
- Natural gas: 4,317 MMcf/day
- Oil: 5 Mbbl/day
- NGLs: 47 Mbbl/day
The following charts provide a breakdown of our proved natural gas, NGLs, and crude oil reserves (the estimated quantity of economically producible hydrocarbons) held within the formations where we operate. Our 2021 Form 10-K provides an explanation of how we determine our reserves. As of December 31, 2021, we had 25.0 trillion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent of proved natural gas, NGLs, and crude oil reserves across approximately 2.0 million gross acres, including approximately 1.7 million gross acres in the Marcellus Shale.
2021 Proved Reserves (Bcfe)
As a natural gas producer, our production process encompasses both producing and in-process wells as outlined in the table below.
2021 Wells
|
|
Gross |
Net |
|
Productive wells — natural gas |
4,527 |
3,510 |
|
In-process wells — natural gas |
282 |
248 |
As of December 31, 2021, we also owned and operated an insignificant number of high-pressure gathering lines. We had no productive or in-process oil wells as of December 31, 2021.
[1] Throughout this report, we use the following denominations to measure and disclose volumes of natural gas, oil/condensate, and NGLs: MMcf = million cubic feet; Mbbl = thousand barrels of oil/NGLs; Bcfe = billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent, with one barrel of NGLs and/or crude oil being equivalent to 6,000 cubic feet of natural gas; MBOE = thousand barrels of oil equivalent. A conversion rate of 6 MMcf to 1 MBOE is used to convert MMcf to MBOE.
[2] “Gross Production” means gross wellhead production of natural gas and oil/condensate produced from all wells operated by EQT, including volumes from EQT-operated wells subject to a third-party working interest. NGLs are derived from the processing of natural gas and are not directly produced from the wellhead. Therefore, our gross production of NGLs is effectively included in the volume of natural gas produced.
[3] “Net Sales Volume” is the amount of EQT’s interest in volumes of natural gas, NGLs, and oil from a well or property after giving effect to all third-party interests (i.e., 100% of the volumes from a well minus the percentage of volumes from the well associated with a third party’s contractual rights to volumes from the well (known as a “working interest”), if any). Net sales volume differs from gross production because net sales volume includes EQT’s working interest in wells that are not operated by EQT and also excludes volumes from EQT-operated wells that are attributable to a third party’s working interest in the well. All net sales volume information related to natural gas is reported net of the effect of any reduction in natural gas volume resulting from the processing of NGLs.
Responsibly Sourced Gas
We have a longstanding commitment to operating responsibly and producing our natural gas in accordance with high environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards. Recently, new certifications have been developed that enable responsible producers like EQT to differentiate their gas in the market based on ESG performance. One such product — often referred to as “independently certified gas,” or “responsibly sourced gas” (RSG) — involves obtaining certification from an independent third party that the gas produced by an operator is sourced through environmentally responsible procurement practices. Certification is based on standards such as greenhouse gas and methane emissions, water sustainability, land use, and community impacts.
In April 2021, we announced our commitment to obtain independent certification of a majority of our produced natural gas under certification standards developed by Equitable Origin and MiQ — two of the global leaders for certifying natural gas pursuant to ESG performance indicators. In November 2021, we successfully obtained certification from both Equitable Origin and MiQ at approximately 200 of our well pads located in Greene and Washington Counties, Pennsylvania. Our certified operating area comprises a substantial component of our operations. For example, in 2021, we paid $13,211,950 in taxes in Greene County, Pennsylvania and $6,541,539 in taxes in Washington County, Pennsylvania[1] among other charitable donations to local fire departments, first responders, and community development organizations. From a production standpoint, the majority of the natural gas we produce is derived from wells located in these two counties, collectively producing approximately 4.0 billion cubic feet per day.
Equitable Origin certified our produced natural gas against the following five principles of the Equitable Origin 100™ Standard: corporate governance and ethics; social impacts, human rights, and community engagement; Indigenous Peoples' rights (determined to not be applicable to our covered operations); occupational health and safety and fair labor standards; and environmental impacts, biodiversity, and climate change. The certification score we achieved represents the highest initial certification score ascribed by Equitable Origin to any upstream producer domestically or abroad to date. Additionally, as part of our MiQ certification, MiQ calculated the methane intensity for our operations covered under the certification program as being 0.049% for 2020. The methane intensity was calculated in accordance with the Natural Gas Sustainability Initiative Protocol and is based on total methane emissions, total gross gas production, natural gas composition, and natural gas heating values. Based on our methane intensity of 0.049%, we obtained an “A” rating for the methane intensity component of our MiQ certification (awarded to producers with a methane intensity of 0.05% and below).
As of December 31, 2021, we were the largest producer of RSG in North America — responsible for nearly half of the daily volume of RSG produced in 2021.[2] We were also the first operator to be issued certificates on the MiQ Digital Registry, a global secure digital ledger in which joint MiQ-Equitable Origin 100™ Certificates are held from issuance to retirement.
North American RSG Supply Estimates and Methane Intensities by Operator[3]
Furthermore, we seek to comply with the principles of international agreements to which the United States is a signatory and we are an active participant in voluntary programs aimed at monitoring and reducing methane emissions on a global scale. In June 2021, we became one of the first operators headquartered in the United States to join the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0. OGMP 2.0 is a Climate and Clean Air Coalition initiative led by the United Nations Environment Programme in partnership with the European Commission, the United Kingdom Government, the Environmental Defense Fund, and other leading oil and gas companies. Pursuant to the OGMP 2.0 framework, we are working to achieve a “gold standard” emissions monitoring strategy by leveraging modern monitoring technologies across our asset base to demonstrate verifiable achievement of “near zero” emissions intensity by or before 2025. We believe that our certifications from Equitable Origin and MiQ, coupled with our participation in initiatives like OGMP 2.0, will enable us to further differentiate ourselves and our natural gas as a leader in sustainable development and emissions reduction.
[1] Greene County and Washington County tax amounts include a Pennsylvania Impact fee, which is paid to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and then distributed by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to the respective county. The amount of the Pennsylvania Impact fee is directly related to the location of the wells to which the fee applies.
[2] Based on 2021 North American RSG supply estimates of 8.7 billion cubic feet per day as reported by Enverus on January 25, 2022.
[3] Source: Enverus, data as of January 25, 2022.
