Drilling & Completions | Quarterly / Earnings Reports | Second Quarter (2Q) Update | Drilling Program-Rig Count

CNX Adds Fourth Rig in Q2; Improves Marcellus Drill Times

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CNX Resources reported its Q2 2018 results.

Adds Fourth Rig; Touts Improved Drill Times

• Deployed fourth rig in June 2018

• Drilling efficiencies continued to improve during the quarter, and the company successfully drilled a Marcellus Shale well in Greene County, Pennsylvania, in 10.8 days from spud to rig release.

• Drilled 16 wells including three dry Utica Shale wells in Monroe County, Ohio; four Marcellus Shale wells in Greene County, Pennsylvania; six Marcellus Shale wells in Washington County, Pennsylvania; and three Marcellus Shale wells in Tyler County, West Virginia.

During the quarter, the company utilized three frac crews to complete 18 wells including eight Marcellus Shale wells in Greene County, Pennsylvania; five Marcellus Shale wells in Washington County, Pennsylvania; and five Utica Shale wells in Harrison County, Ohio. CNX set a company record of completing 78,877 feet, or 394 stages, in the month of May. During the quarter, the company signed a three-year engagement with Evolution Well Services for an all-electric, natural gas-powered frac fleet. The company expects this new technology to provide longer-term visibility for predictive completion costs, while increasing frac efficiency and reducing fuel costs by approximately 30% and 80%, respectively.

CNX turned-in-line three Marcellus Shale wells in Washington County, Pennsylvania. The company expects to turn-in-line (TIL) approximately 30 wells in the third quarter, of which the company expects approximately 10 to get turned-in-line in late September, resulting in production peaking in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Marcellus Shale volumes, including liquids, in the 2018 second quarter were 64.7 Bcfe, approximately 14% higher than the 56.9 Bcfe produced in the 2017 second quarter. Marcellus total production costs were $2.17 per Mcfe in the just-ended quarter, which is a $0.12 per Mcfe increase from the second quarter of 2017 of $2.05 per Mcfe, driven by increases to water disposal costs and processing costs associated with the Shirley-Pennsboro wells that were turned-in-line during the third and fourth quarters of 2017. During the second quarter of 2018 water disposal costs improved, compared to the previous quarter, as the company reused more produced water for fracs, avoiding the need to send that water to disposal.

Utica Shale volumes, including liquids, in the 2018 second quarter were 42.6 Bcfe, approximately 209% higher than the 13.8 Bcfe in the year-earlier quarter, driven primarily from Monroe County, Ohio, volumes. The ramp in Monroe County, Ohio, volumes also benefited overall Utica Shale total production costs, which were $1.57 per Mcfe in the just-ended quarter, or a $0.47 per Mcfe improvement from the second quarter of 2017 total production costs of $2.04 per Mcfe.