Philip P. Conti
Analyst · BMO
Thanks Pat, and good morning, everyone. As you read in the press release this morning, EQT announced second quarter 2014 adjusted earnings of $0.58 per diluted share, which represents a $0.02 per share increase versus the second quarter of 2013. The GAAP EPS was $0.73 per share in the quarter and included a $38 million gain on the asset exchange with Range, with $31 million of that gain realized at Production and the balance recognized at Midstream. As Pat reminded you, EQT Midstream Partners, or EQM's results, are consolidated in EQT's results. The impact of the noncontrolling interest in those results is a little clearer on the income statement than it is on the cash flow statement. EQM operating cash flow or adjusted EBITDA as it is defined in the EQM press release was $57 million in the quarter and is included in EQT's consolidated cash flow. However, as we have noted in the past, not all of that cash flow is available to EQT, as noncontrolling unitholders owned approximately 64% of EQM at the end of the second quarter 2014. Summarizing the quarter from an operational and financial perspective, EQT production volumes were 110 Bcf or approximately 17% higher than the second quarter last year but about 4 Bcf below our previous forecast. The shortfall versus guidance was due to the delay in the installation of a gathering pipeline, which postponed 2 multi-well pads from being turned in line, and also due to the delay in construction of well lines to another multi-well pad. In total, 22 wells were delayed and all 22 of those wells are currently flowing, which explains why we are reiterating our full year guidance of between 465 and 480 Bcf equivalent. We expect third quarter production volumes of 118 Bcf to 122 Bcf equivalent or a 9% sequential growth rate assuming the midpoint of that range. Midstream gathered volumes were also up in the quarter about 17% higher than last year. However, the volume growth at both businesses was largely offset by lower commodity prices and absolute costs that were higher than last year consistent with, but less than, the growth in volumes. Prices were obviously a big factor in the quarter. At the consolidated level EQT's average effective sales price of $3.85 per Mcf equivalent was about 10% lower than the $4.29 we realized in the second quarter last year. The average NYMEX gas price for the quarter was actually considerably higher at $4.67 per MMBtu compared to $4.09 last year. However, from a hedge price perspective, a portion of the impact of that higher NYMEX was offset by the fact that some higher price swaps rolled off in 2014. Also basis was significantly lower at negative $0.78 in the second quarter 2014 compared to basis which was basically flat with NYMEX last year. However, we were able to recover about $0.20 per Mcf equivalent in the second quarter 2014 through transporting some of our gas to higher-priced markets, and also through the resale of our unused capacity. The realized price of $3.85 included an $0.08 non-cash hedge loss on derivatives that were marked-to-market. The realized price at EQT Production was $2.92 per Mcf equivalent compared to $3.24 last year, or also about 10% lower. EQT Midstream realized $0.93 compared to $1.05 last year, as a result of a lower gathering rate, lower average gathering rate. And finally, our third-party gathering and transmission costs were $0.54 or about $0.05 per unit lower than the second quarter last year. A few brief comments on the production results. EQT production operating income, adjusted for the gain on the Range transaction was 8% higher than last year. As I discussed a minute ago, this 17% volume increase was significantly offset by lower commodity prices. The result was net operating revenue of about $322 million in the quarter, which was only 5% higher than the second quarter of 2013 despite the healthy volume growth. Operating expenses were about 1% higher. Excluding the $4.8 million legal reserve, SG&A, production taxes, and LOE were all higher, as you would expect given the volume growth, however DD&A was lower as a result of a depletion rate that is 19% lower than last year, primarily as a result of the increase in reserves at year-end 2013. Moving on to Midstream results in the quarter. Midstream operating income adjusted again for the gain on the Range transaction was up 13% due to the growth of gathered volumes and increased capacity base transmission revenue. Net revenue was $152 million, up about 16%. Gathering net revenue increased by 5%, as gathering volumes increased by 17%, but were somewhat offset by an 11% decrease in the average gathering rate. That gradual decrease in average gathering rate has been ongoing and is due to the continued increase in the Marcellus gathered volumes in the mix, which are relatively less expensive to gather and therefore, gets charged at a lower rate. Midstream transmission net revenues also increased by 33% in the quarter, driven by higher capacity reservation charges and throughput. Third-party transmission revenues were 73% higher than last year and accounted for 1/2 of second quarter transmission revenue. Storage, marketing and other operating revenue was $4.1 million higher in the second quarter, as a result of revenue from storage assets that were received as part of a consideration from the utility sale that closed in December. Operating expenses at Midstream were up 20% quarter-over-quarter, however, per unit gathering and compression expense was 6% lower, driven down by the volume growth. A couple of comments on funding and liquidity in the second quarter. As you know, we sold our Jupiter gathering system to EQM for $1.2 billion in May of 2014. There was no EQT income statement impact from that transaction, as EQT controls EQM through the general partner ownership and therefore, EQM's results are consolidated with EQT. From a tax perspective, however, EQT did realize a gain on the transaction, and we expect to pay cash taxes of approximately $100 million related to the sale of the Jupiter gathering system. A quick update on our share repurchase authorization. We bought back 300,000 shares of EQT stock during the quarter and have 700,000 shares remaining under the current authorization. And then just a couple of quick notes on the balance sheet. We closed the quarter with no short-term debt other than the $330 million of short-term debt at EQM that gets consolidated into EQT's balance sheet, and a current cash balance at EQT of approximately $1.4 billion. We also continue to have full availability under our $1.5 billion revolving credit facility. Using the current strip for the remainder of the year, our operating cash flow estimate for full year 2014 is approximately $1.5 billion. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Steve Schlotterbeck.