Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Content Index
GENERAL STANDARD DISCLOSURES
GRI Indicator | Description | Location |
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102-1 | Name of the organization | EQT Corporation |
102-2 | Activities, brands, products, and services | Corporate Profile; Hydraulic fracturing is prohibited in some regions of the United States; however, EQT does not have active operations in these areas. Additionally, there are no bans on any of EQT’s primary brands, products, or services. |
102-3 | Location of headquarters | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
102-4 | Location of operations | Corporate Profile |
102-5 | Ownership and legal form | Corporate Profile |
102-6 | Markets served | Corporate Profile |
102-7 | Scale of the organization | Corporate Profile |
102-8 | Information on employees and other workers | Total Employees (as of 12/31/19): 818
Permanent Employees: 648
Temporary Employees: 170
Full-time Employees: 641
Part-time Employees: 7
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102-9 | Supply chain | Corporate Profile |
102-10 | Significant changes to the organization and its supply chain | Corporate Profile; 2019 Form 10-K, p. 7 |
102-11 | Precautionary Principle or approach | Although EQT does not formally follow the precautionary principle, we assess environmental risks across our operations. |
102-12 | External initiatives | Public Policy and Perception |
102-13 | Membership of associations | Public Policy and Perception |
102-14 | Statement from senior decision-maker | Letter from the Chief Executive Officer |
102-16 | Values, principles, standards and norms of behavior | Ethics and Integrity |
102-17 | Mechanisms for advice and concerns about ethics | Ethics and Integrity |
102-18 | Governance structure | Corporate Governance |
102-19 | Delegating authority | Corporate Governance |
102-20 | Executive-level responsibility for economic, environmental and social topics | Corporate Governance |
102-22 | Composition of the highest governance body and its committees | Corporate Governance |
102-23 | Chair of the highest governance body | Corporate Governance |
102-24 | Nominating and selecting the highest governance body | The Corporate Governance Committee of the Board of Directors identifies and recommends requisite skills and characteristics for individuals to serve as directors of EQT. The Corporate Governance Committee identifies potential director candidates through many sources, including third-party search firms and unsolicited shareholder submissions. All EQT directors stand for election annually by EQT’s shareholders. For additional information on Board member qualifications, please see the Board of Directors page on EQT’s website. For more information on EQT’s nomination and selection process, see pages 26-27 of EQT’s 2020 Proxy Statement. |
102-25 | Conflicts of interest | EQT discloses conflicts of interest to stakeholders as required by law. EQT’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics outlines our policy to avoid conflicts of interest (we also have an internal Conflicts of Interest Policy). EQT maintains a majority of independent directors and our Corporate Governance Committee monitors related-person transactions. For more information, see pages 28-31 of EQT’s 2020 Proxy Statement. |
102-26 | Roles of highest governance body in setting purpose, values and strategy | Corporate Governance |
102-27 | Collective knowledge of highest governance body | Upon election, EQT directors participate in an initial orientation to Board service and routinely receive information from management to inform them about company business, including related economic, environmental and social topics. EQT encourages directors to participate in outside educational programs, for which EQT funds or reimburses participation. |
102-28 | Evaluating the highest governance body's performance | The Board and its Committees use performance assessments to evaluate how well they are fulfilling their governance responsibilities. The Board and its Committees conduct annual self-assessments and each director — in a discussion with the Chair of the Board — provides feedback on individual director performance. Although the Board does not publicly disclose any actions taken in response to its annual self-assessments, it takes the assessment process seriously and responds appropriately to the results to improve overall governance performance. |
102-29 | Identifying and managing economic, environmental and social impacts | Corporate Governance |
102-30 | Effectiveness of risk management processes | The Board oversees and evaluates the process for assessing the major risks facing EQT and the related risk mitigation options. These responsibilities include:
Additionally, the Audit Committee of the Board reviews EQT’s major risk exposures and key processes implemented to monitor and control such exposures. When making decisions on behalf of EQT, the Board considers the feedback provided by its respective stakeholders. |
102-31 | Review of economic, environmental and social topics | Corporate Governance |
102-32 | Highest governance body's role in sustainability reporting | Corporate Governance |
102-33 | Communicating critical concerns | To achieve sustainable performance for our stakeholders, the Board is committed to overseeing EQT with integrity, accountability and transparency. The Board welcomes input on how it is doing and provides stakeholders multiple ways to communicate with EQT’s governing body.
The Chair of the Board is a key point of contact within the Board for concerns or inquiries. Other avenues for contacting the EQT Board include:
Communications may be made anonymously or confidentially. |
102-34 | Nature and total number of critical concerns | While EQT does not maintain a record of concerns communicated to the Board of Directors, EQT has conducted a formal shareholder engagement program since 2010, and we maintain active dialogue with our shareholders year-round. Through our investor relations program, senior executives hold meetings with EQT investors or potential investors to discuss operations, strategy and other critical items as outlined on pages 5-6 of EQT’s 2020 Proxy Statement. Since our 2019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders held in July, management has held over 200 meetings with investors. Executives from the Compensation and Governance functions also meet with interested shareholders to discuss EQT’s pay structure and governance with time devoted to answering shareholder questions and taking suggestions for changes. Our management team uses our annual ESG Report to help guide conversations with investors regarding economic, environmental and social topics. When investors pose specific questions, our management team schedules calls and/or meetings to address their inquiries accordingly.
As described in Stakeholder Engagement and Materiality, the Board values and regularly considers the input and feedback of all stakeholders in its oversight of EQT’s sustainability efforts. |
102-35 | Remuneration policies | EQT independent director compensation — including descriptions of cash, equity-based and other compensation — as well as related processes, are outlined on pages 32-34 of EQT’s 2020 Proxy Statement.
We also have compensation recoupment, or a “clawback” policy, applicable to executive officers if EQT is required to prepare an accounting restatement due to material noncompliance with any financial reporting mandate under U.S. securities laws. The policy authorizes EQT to recoup certain compensation from covered executives who received equity or non-equity incentive compensation. |
102-36 | Process for determining remuneration | Annually, the Corporate Governance Committee reviews, and the entire Board approves, the compensation of our executive officers.
The Management Development and Compensation Committee establishes the target total direct compensation for executive officers by establishing base salaries, setting long-term and annual incentive targets, and approving perquisites. The Management Development and Compensation Committee approves annual and long-term incentive programs on a yearly basis with recommendations from management and an independent compensation consultant. For more information regarding our executive compensation process, see pages 23-24 of EQT’s 2020 Proxy Statement; additionally, pages 39-75 describe the executive compensation program and performance. |
102-37 | Stakeholders' involvement in remuneration | Although we have historically engaged in shareholder outreach efforts specifically targeted at discussing EQT’s compensation and governance practices, we did not engage in any compensation discussions with shareholders in 2019. Our Board of Directors was substantially reconstituted following our Annual Meeting of Shareholders in July 2019, and thereafter, a new management team was appointed to lead EQT. The compensation for several of our executives, including our Chief Executive Officer, was not determined until later in the year, and certain of our executives did not join EQT until the end of 2019, including our current Chief Financial Officer who joined our company in January 2020.
Our 2020 say-on-pay voting results indicated 98.3% of votes cast were “for” the proposal.
As discussed above, the Management Development and Compensation Committee considers investor feedback during the design of our long-term incentive programs. |
102-38 | Annual total compensation ratio | See p. 75 in EQT’s 2020 Proxy Statement. |
102-39 | Percentage increase in annual total compensation ratio | Our annual total compensation ratio decreased from 49.6:1 for 2018 to less than 0.0001 for 2019. The decrease was the result of the change in management following our 2019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, following which Toby Z. Rice was appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer, and agreed to total compensation for 2019 in the amount of $1.00, as calculated pursuant to Securities and Exchange Commission rules. |
102-40 | List of stakeholder groups | Stakeholder Engagement and Materiality |
102-41 | Collective bargaining agreements | None of EQT’s employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements. |
102-42 | Identifying and selecting stakeholders | Stakeholder Engagement and Materiality |
102-43 | Approach to stakeholder engagement | Stakeholder Engagement and Materiality |
102-44 | Key topics and concerns raised | Stakeholder Engagement and Materiality |
102-45 | Entities included in the consolidated financial statements | Corporate Profile |
102-46 | Defining report content and topic Boundaries | Stakeholder Engagement and Materiality |
102-47 | List of material topics | Stakeholder Engagement and Materiality |
102-48 | Restatements of information | We restated our 2018 air emissions to reflect corrections in our calculations; see Air Quality. We also restated our 2018 Scope 1 GHG emissions data based on EPA recommendations; see Climate and GHG Emissions. |
102-49 | Changes in reporting | This report covers the ESG topics deemed most important to our stakeholders based on our 2020 materiality assessment, as described in Stakeholder Engagement and Materiality. Unless otherwise specified, the 2019 data throughout this report refers only to our upstream assets and operations. |
102-50 | Reporting period | January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019 |
102-51 | Date of most recent report | December 16, 2019 |
102-52 | Reporting cycle | Annual |
102-53 | Contact point for questions regarding the report | Josie Schultz, External Communications Manager (PublicAffairs@eqt.com) |
102-54 | Claims of reporting in accordance with the GRI Standards | This report has been prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards: Core option |
102-55 | GRI content index | This page |
102-56 | External assurance | EQT conducted a self-assessment of the report; however, we did not submit the report for external assurance. |
SPECIFIC STANDARD DISCLOSURES
GRI Standard | Disclosure | Description | Location or Direct Answer | Omission |
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GRI 103: Management Approach 2016 |
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GRI 203: Indirect Economic Impacts 2016 |
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GRI 103: Management Approach 2016 |
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GRI 204: Procurement Practices 2016 |
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GRI 103: Management Approach 2016 |
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GRI 205: Anti-Corruption 2016 |
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GRI 103: Management Approach 2016 |
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GRI 302: Energy 2016 |
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GRI 103: Management Approach 2016 |
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GRI 303: Water 2016 |
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GRI 103: Management Approach 2016 |
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GRI 304: Biodiversity 2016 |
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GRI 103: Management Approach 2016 |
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GRI 305: Emissions 2016 |
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GRI 103: Management Approach 2016 |
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GRI 306: Effluents and Waste 2016 |
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GRI 103: Management Approach 2016 |
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GRI 307: Environmental Compliance 2016 |
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GRI 103: Management Approach 2016 |
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GRI 401: Employment 2016 |
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GRI 103: Management Approach 2016 |
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GRI 403: Occupational Health and Safety 2018 |
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GRI 103: Management Approach 2016 |
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GRI 404: Training and Education 2016 |
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GRI 103: Management Approach 2016 |
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GRI 405: Diversity and Equal Opportunity 2016 |
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GRI 103: Management Approach 2016 |
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GRI 413: Local Communities 2016 |
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GRI 103: Management Approach 2016 |
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GRI 415: Public Policy 2016 |
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GRI 103: Management Approach 2016 |
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GRI 419: Socioeconomic Compliance 2016 |
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GRI 103: Management Approach 2016 |
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Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Index
SUSTAINABILITY DISCLOSURE TOPICS AND ACCOUNTING METRICS — OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION
Topic | Accounting Metric | Response/Location |
Greenhouse Gas Emissions | SASB EM-EP-110a.1: Gross global Scope 1 emissions, percentage methane, percentage covered under emissions-limiting regulations | Climate and GHG Emissions |
SASB EM-EP-110a.2: Amount of gross global Scope 1 emissions from: (1) flared hydrocarbons, (2) other combustion, (3) process emissions, (4) other vented emissions, and (5) fugitive emissions | Climate and GHG Emissions; SASB does not include a category for completions with and without fracturing. In 2019, EQT recorded Scope 1 emissions in these categories of 5,351 metric tons CO2e. In 2018, these two categories totaled 6,938 metric tons CO2e. | |
SASB EM-EP-110a.3: Discussion of long-term and short-term strategy or plan to manage Scope 1 emissions, emissions reduction targets, and an analysis of performance against those targets | Climate and GHG Emissions | |
Air Quality | SASB EM-EP-120a.1: Air emissions of the following pollutants: (1) NOx (excluding N2O), (2) SOx, (3) volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and (4) particulate matter (PM10) | Air Quality |
Water Management | SASB EM-EP-140a.1: (1) Total fresh water withdrawn, (2) total fresh water consumed, percentage of each in regions with High or Extremely High Baseline Water Stress | Water |
SASB EM-EP-140a.2: Volume of produced water and flowback generated; percentage (1) discharged, (2) injected, (3) recycled; hydrocarbon content in discharged water | Water | |
SASB EM-EP-140a.3: Percentage of hydraulically fractured wells for which there is public disclosure of all fracturing fluid chemicals used | 100%; see Water for more information. | |
SASB EM-EP-140a.4: Percentage of hydraulic fracturing sites where ground or surface water quality deteriorated compared to a baseline | Water | |
Biodiversity Impacts | SASB EM-EP-160a.1: Description of environmental management policies and practices for active sites | Biodiversity and Land Impacts |
SASB EM-EP-160a.2: Number and aggregate volume of hydrocarbon spills, volume in Arctic, volume impacting shorelines with ESI rankings 8-10, and volume recovered | Spills | |
SASB EM-EP-160a.3: Percentage of (1) proved and (2) probable reserves in or near sites with protected conservation status or endangered species habitat | Biodiversity and Land Impacts | |
Security, Human Rights and Rights of Indigenous Peoples | SASB EM-EP-210a.1: Percentage of (1) proved and (2) probable reserves in or near areas of conflict | EQT does not have any reserves in or near areas of conflict. |
SASB EM-EP-210a.2: Percentage of (1) proved and (2) probable reserves in or near indigenous land | To our knowledge, EQT does not have any reserves in or near indigenous land. | |
SASB EM-EP-210a.3: Discussion of engagement processes and due diligence practices with respect to human rights, indigenous rights, and operation in areas of conflict | EQT does not operate in areas of conflict. | |
Community Relations | SASB EM-EP-210b.1: Discussion of process to manage risks and opportunities associated with community rights and interests | Community Impacts and Safety |
SASB EM-EP-210b.2: Number and duration of non-technical delays | Community Impacts and Safety; EQT’s operations are subject to numerous regulatory and permitting requirements. We strive to account for potential delays in obtaining regulatory and permitting approvals or similar non-technical factors, in our scheduling process. In 2019, none of EQT’s operations were stopped or delayed due to unanticipated non-technical factors. | |
Workforce Health and Safety | SASB EM-EP-320a.1: (1) Total recordable incident rate (TRIR), (2) fatality rate, (3) near miss frequency rate (NMFR), and (4) average hours of health, safety, and emergency response training for (a) full-time employees, (b) contract employees, and (c) short-service employees | Occupational Health and Safety |
SASB EM-EP-320a.2: Discussion of management systems used to integrate a culture of safety throughout the exploration and production lifecycle | Occupational Health and Safety | |
Reserves Valuation & Capital Expenditures | SASB EM-EP-420a.1: Sensitivity of hydrocarbon reserve levels to future price projection scenarios that account for a price on carbon emissions | EQT has not conducted scenario analysis on this subject. While the U.S. Congress has from time to time considered legislation to reduce emissions of GHGs, there has not been significant activity in the form of federal legislation in recent years. Presently, none of West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania (our primary operating areas) regulate GHG emissions or have a cap-and-trade program, although it is possible that any of these states may do so in the future. This could result in increased operating costs if our customers are required to purchase emission allowances. We intend to mitigate this risk by operating highly efficient wells in contiguous areas through the implementation of our combo-development strategy. Additionally, the substantial majority of our production is natural gas, which has low carbon emissions compared to oil, diesel and coal. We are active participants in the ONE Future Coalition (ONE Future) and The Environmental Partnership, both of which seek to improve the oil and gas industry's environmental performance. ONE Future has set goals for the methane emissions leakage rate for the overall industry at below 1% and below 0.28% for the production "upstream" sector. Historically, we have significantly outperformed the production sector target for methane emissions. |
SASB EM-EP-420a.2: Estimated carbon dioxide emissions embedded in proved hydrocarbon reserves | 242,662 metric tons | |
SASB EM-EP-420a.3: Amount invested in renewable energy, revenue generated by renewable energy sales | At certain of our sites, we either use solar technology to generate power or capture natural gas from the field to power fuel cells, generating on-site energy. We do not currently track the amount of energy produced by these means as it is only used in remote locations and on a limited basis. | |
SASB EM-EP-420a.4: Discussion of how price and demand for hydrocarbons and/or climate regulation influence the capital expenditure strategy for exploration, acquisition, and development of assets | Sustainable Value Creation | |
Business Ethics and Transparency | SASB EM-EP-510a.1: Percentage of (1) proved and (2) probable reserves in countries that have the 20 lowest rankings in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index | 0% — EQT only operates in the United States, therefore, we have no reserves in these countries. |
SASB EM-EP-510a.2: Description of the management system for prevention of corruption and bribery throughout the value chain | Ethics and Integrity | |
Management of the Legal & Regulatory Environment | SASB EM-EP-530a.1: Discussion of corporate positions related to government regulations and/or policy proposals that address environmental and social factors affecting the industry | Public Policy and Perception |
Critical Incident Risk Management | SASB EM-EP-540a.2: Description of management systems used to identify and mitigate catastrophic and tail-end risks | Community Impacts and Safety |
ACTIVITY METRICS
Activity Metric | Response/Location |
Production of: (1) oil, (2) natural gas, (3) synthetic oil, and (4) synthetic gas | Corporate Profile; EQT did not produce any synthetic natural gas or synthetic oil in 2019. |
Number of offshore sites | EQT does not operate any offshore sites. |
Number of terrestrial sites | As of December 31, 2019, EQT operated 341 well pads. |
Disclosing the Facts
INDICATORS
Indicator |
Response/Location |
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1) Well Evaluation |
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2) Well Integrity |
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3) Near Misses |
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4) Offset Well Assessment |
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5) Avoiding Induced Seismic Activity |
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6) Pre-drill H2O Monitoring |
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7) Post-drill H2O Monitoring |
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8) Evaluating Water Scarcity |
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9) Total Water Use |
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10) Freshwater and Non-freshwater Use |
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11) Water Source Types |
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12) Wastewater Use |
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13) Reducing Fresh water |
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14) Wastewater Volume |
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15) Wastewater Storage Methods |
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16) Wastewater Storage Safeguards |
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17) Drilling Residuals |
EQT’s drill mud and cuttings are processed using solids control equipment that efficiently separate drilling fluids from solids. Drying agents then remove any residual moisture, and the dried cuttings are stored in containers and transported by truck to landfills that are pre-approved to accept these solids in their permitted disposal cells. EQT continues to improve the efficiency of its solids management program by using higher efficiency systems that create better separation of drilling fluid and drill cuttings, reducing the overall weight of the disposed product. Using more effective drying agents decreases the amount of agents needed, which also decreases the weight of the disposed product. |
18) NORM |
EQT actively reviews whether new processes will generate naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM). |
19) Managing Inactive Wells |
Biodiversity and Land Impacts — see Decommissioning and Inactive Sites |
20) Use of Waste Products |
Water — see Wastewater Management. EQT continues to evaluate minimization and beneficial reuse options for our waste products from both an environmental and economic standpoint. Currently, reuse of our wastewater is only used for hydraulic fracturing operations. |
21) Toxicity Reduction |
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22) CBI Disclaimer |
EQT is evaluating the potential implementation of dry friction reducer in its fracturing operations; however, we currently do not use any dry hydraulic fracturing chemicals in our operations. |
23) Eliminating BTEX |
EQT does not currently use any benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) chemicals in its completions operations. |
24) CBI Disclaimer |
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25) Reducing CBI Claims |