David L. Porges
Analyst · SunTrust
Thank you, Phil. As Phil summarized, operationally, we are coming off another record quarter with record volumes at Production and Midstream. Before discussing business operations, I will update you on several housekeeping items. First, we have a status update on the regulatory reviews related to the sale of our gas utility, Equitable Gas Company. April 22 marked the expiration of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. The Federal Trade Commission has completed its assessment of the proposed transaction and we are free to proceed from an HSR perspective. We've also submitted filings with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, West Virginia Public Service Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and we'll soon file with the Kentucky Public Service Commission. Each of which must approve the transaction as part of the regulatory process. We continue to expect to receive all necessary approvals by year-end. Second, MLP drops. We intend to execute a significant drop in the third quarter as planned. We expect that EQT Midstream Partners funding of the acquisition will include the issuance of additional equity units. As we have discussed before, the MLP becomes eligible to file a shelf registration statement with the SEC in early July, and we expect that it will file such a shelf registration at that time, in order to start the SEC registration process. The registration statement, once declared effective by the SEC, will allow for the issuance of equity and debt. If the SEC review is uneventful, we expect to be able to complete the drop in the third quarter as previously discussed. Now on previous calls, we have discussed the possibility of doing a very small drop in the first half of 2013. As we prepared for the so-called test drop, we realized that the time commitment and fixed cost related to a small drop are quite similar to those related to a larger drop. Therefore, we decided not to proceed with the small drop but rather focus our efforts on a successful large drop in the second half of the year. In anticipation of your questions related to specific timing and size of the third quarter drop, please keep in mind that SEC rules limit what we're allowed to discuss in advance of security offerings and intend to comply with those restrictions. What I can say, which we have said in the past, is that we intend to fund our Midstream CapEx investments and proceeds from drops to -- with proceeds from the drops to EQT Midstream Partners. My third housekeeping item is that we finished frac-ing our first Utica well as planned. And it is shut-in waiting for gathering line, which is on schedule for midyear. We completed drilling our second Utica well and we'll be frac-ing it soon. And we will spot a third Utica well this month. Finally, as has been our normal, we're providing Production sales guidance for the current quarter. Based on our current pad completion schedule, we expect second quarter Production sales to be approximately 85 Bcfe. Now I want to return to our operations. As I said, the first quarter was another very good quarter for EQT. Production exceeded its business plan on both revenues and expenses, driven by volumes that exceeded guidance by 4%. The increased volumes flowed through our Midstream gathering and transmission systems driving the growth in those businesses. And Equitable Gas Company demonstrated its ability to earn a solid return when Mother Nature cooperates. We had our first normal winter in sometime, void by a persistently colder and normal March, and I add that note for the benefit of those of you who did not have the pleasure of experiencing it firsthand. And the results reflect the commitment our team has to providing safe and reliable service to our utility customers. Production volumes were higher than expected -- higher than expectations from turning pads and lines faster than planned from wells performing better than expected. We have discussed the lumpiness of Production growth resulting from the specific timing of turning pads and lines, and I will not bore you with the results from every pad, but I do wish to share some examples. In Greene County, we turned in line an 8-well pad with an average length of 5,800 feet starting at the end of October. The 30-day IP of the pad was 116 million cubic feet or 14.5 million cubic feet per well per day. While too early to estimate precisely, this corresponds to an EUR of 15 Bcfe per well or 2.6 Bcfe per thousand feet of padding. Other Greene County pad was turned in line in December. This pad had 4 wells on an average length of 7,300 feet. The 30-day IP was 94.1 million cubic feet per day or 23.5 million cubic feet per well per day. This corresponds to an EUR of 14.3 Bcfe per well or just under 2 Bcfe per thousand feet of padding. To help you with the math, that's 6.25 Bcf total production from the first month of production from just those 2 pads. Shifting to West Virginia, recently, we have been getting a lot more questions from investors about our position in this state. As many of you know, we have been bullish on West Virginia for some time. Our drilling activity there, which represents 55% of our 2013 Marcellus drilling, is focused in our liquids-rich acreage in Doddridge, Ritchie and Wetzel counties, where we have approximately 80,000 acres. We have begun implementing reduced cluster spacing in Doddridge and Ritchie with tremendous initial success. In Doddridge, we have 8 wells frac-ed with reduced cluster spacing and online for more than 30 days. These wells are significantly shorter than we prefer due to some land issues as they average 2,900 feet in lateral pay, but the results are still impressive. The average 30-day IP was 8 million cubic feet per well per day, which corresponds to an EUR of 5.7 Bcfe per well or just under 2 Bcfe per 1,000 feet of pay. As a footnote, all of the EUR estimates I am quoting for wet gas using industry norm of converting extracted liquids to MCFE at a ratio of 6 MCFE per barrel. The quoted EURs in the wet areas would be higher still if we assumed all ethane in the gas stream were extracted and, therefore, converted at that ratio. In Ritchie, we only have 5 wells online with an average length of 5,640 feet, 2 were frac-ed using 30-foot spacing and 3 with 60-foot spacing. The average 30-day IP was 9.2 million cubic feet per well per day, which corresponds to an EUR of 11 Bcfe per well or just under 2 Bcfe per 1,000 feet of pay. In Wetzel, we also only have 5 wells online, all frac-ed with 60-foot spacing. The average length per well is 3,680 feet. The average 30-day IP in Wetzel was 7.4 million cubic feet per well per day, which corresponds to an EUR of 7.3 Bcfe per well or 2 Bcfe per 1,000 feet of pay. We are testing 30-foot cluster completions in Wetzel this year. As you can see, when we normalize for lateral length, which is how we evaluate well productivity internally, these 17 West Virginia wells, with EURs per 1,000 feet of just under 2 Bcfe, are more productive than our Tier 1 average, which is 1.7 Bcfe per 1,000 feet. And the economics are enhanced by the liquids content and by the higher energy content of the residual gas stream. As you read in this morning's press release or as you've read in this morning's press release, we increased our 2013 Production sales volume guidance to be 33% higher than last year, and we initiated 2014 guidance at nearly 30% growth over the midpoint of the higher 2013 target. To remind you, 2013 Production is primarily determined by our 2012 drilling program and, similarly, 2014 is largely determined by our 2013 program. That is why we are confident giving our preliminary 2014 guidance. As we look at our extensive Marcellus inventory in both Pennsylvania and West Virginia, we are confident that our assets can support growth of more than 20% for several years. Furthermore, with proceeds from the sale of the utility and a continued source of capital through drops of Midstream assets to EQM, we are in strong financial shape and have visibility on sourcing the needed capital. In summary, EQT is committed to increasing the value of our vast resource by accelerating the monetization of our reserves and other opportunities. We continue to be focused on earning the highest possible returns from our investments, and we are doing what we can to increase the value of your shares. We look forward to continuing to execute on our commitment to our shareholders, and we appreciate your continued support. And with that, I'll turn the call over back to Pat.