This week members of the CX-Energy team attended the 2012 DUG East Conference, the largest Marcellus and Utica Shale event in the world. This conference was able to provide us with valuable information about the industry while allowing the opportunity to network with other attendees.
View of half the exhibition hall at 2012 DUG East in Pittsburgh, PA
We want to share with you some of our “key take-a-ways” and favorite quotes from the event.
1) The Answer is natural gas: “It does not matter what the question is, we have the answer. The answer is natural gas.” Ray Walker, Range Resources.
- Chief Oil and Gas Founder, Trevor Rees-Jones presents at DUG East and thanks industry on behalf of consumers, for its development of an abundant supply of energy for powering this country!
- The oil and gas industry has created 1.75 million U.S. jobs over last few years. 1/3 of recent jobs can be attributable to the industry.
- According to Steve Adelkoff, Chief Financial Officer for Aither Chemicals, LLC, “The region’s most significant sustainable competitive advantages are the rich natural resources.”
2) The potential of the Appalachia basin will have positive effects that reach well beyond the oil and gas industry.
- Jim Cooper with American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) had an ulterior motive to accepting this speaking engagement, “I want to bring manufacturing back!” The abundance of polyethylene and othe petrochemicals being produced locally from natural gas liquids will provide us with the opportunity to bring cost-effective manufacturing back to the area. This means, not only jobs directly related to drilling, but also new manufacturing opportunities.
3) The region has undergone vast changes in a short time, and there are many more developments to come – and quickly!
- “In 2011 we couldn’t say the Utica would work, there were questions. Today we can comfortably say it works” John Walker, EnverVest
- According to Range’s SVP Ray Walker, “Natural gas production in Pennsylvania has more than quadrupled since 2009.”
- “The Marcellus and Utica have experienced exponential expansion in valuation metrics.” Tommy Pritchard, Imperial Capital LLC
4) The overall consensus was clear that we are sitting on a hot spot of natural resources.
- According to Kent Bowker, Bowker Petroleum “Point Pleasant is similar to the Eagle Ford from a reservoir perspective.” In addition, Bill Marko, managing director Jefferies & Co, expects the Marcellus to be one of the largest gas fields in the world and expects the Utica to rival the Eagle Ford.
- “We are only 2-3% into Marcellus / Utica development,” Bill Marko, Jeffries & Co
5) We need to utilize other markets for these products to increase demand – including exporting. The pressure is on for processing plants and other infrastructure.
- Range’s RayWalker touts natural gas as a transportation fuel, “I have 3 personal vehicles that run on it. It’s not easy but we can do it”
- Tom Petrie, Petrie Partners, explained “without a plan for growing natural gas exports, the US is likely to sub-optimize its natural gas development”
6) There is an industry focus on educating the public on the process of extracting natural gas – a sustainable energy source.
- “How we change the public opinion on shale gas is more important today than it was just one week ago.” Randall Albert, CONSOL
- Tom Petrie, Petrie Partners said “The ongoing fear of fracking and the misleading and incorrect information about fracking should not be underestimated.”
7) Due to prices of gas, the focus has been on wet gas, but the outlook looks positive for dry gas areas.
- “Producers placing priority on wet gas over dry gas has caused Marcellus M&A activity to decline recently” states Tommy Pritchard, Managing Director and Co-Head, Energy Investment Banking.
- Andrew Coleman, Managing Director, E&P Research for Raymond Jammes Energy Capital Markets, “The natural gas game has changed in 5 years & is continuously changing. U.S. natural gas prices should improve gradually”
We were able to talk to representatives from key companies including EQT, Cheseapeake, Range Resources, and US Energy Corporation. Overall, a great event for our organization and our landowner groups!