【出版时间及名称】:2010年4月美国石油开采行业研究报告
【作者】:Pritchard Capital Partners
【文件格式】:pdf
【页数】:69
【目录或简介】:
Summary
Detailed acreage positions, pipeline takeaway capacity, results to date, IP rates and EUR data is provided in this report
on each player in the PA and WV Marcellus Shale play. This report also includes new permits issued in the past month,
by company, permits issued year to date by company and breakdowns of horizontal and vertical drilling to date by
County in PA and WV.
Key Points
JVs and Acquisitions: A Record Price/Acre:
• On April 9, Atlas Energy (ATLS-$36.19) rang the bell when it announced a JV with Reliance Industries Limited
worth $1.7 billion. Reliance will receive a 40% interest in 300,000 "core" acres, or approximately 120,000 net acres,
in exchange for $340 million in cash and a $1.36 drilling carry, or approximately $14,150/acre, the highest price per
acre paid to date. An AMI will be created where ATLS will be the operator and sole lease agent. The drilling carry is
for 5.5 years but can be extended under certain circumstances. Reliance does have the Right of First Offer to buy
additional acreage outside the AMI at $8,000/acre (after discounting).
• Among other counties, included in the AMI are ATLS's core counties Fayette, Greene, Washington and
Westmoreland. Companies that should benefit from this news are Rex Energy (REXX-$12.94), EQT Corporation
(EQT-$33.68), Range Resources (RRC-$48.52) and CNX Gas (CXG-$38.19).
• Consol Energy (CNX-$42.71) announced that it will acquire Dominion Resources' (D-$41.28) Appalachian
exploration and production business for $3.475 billion in cash. Included in the transaction are 491,393 net acres
which are prospective for the Marcellus in WV and PA. The company says that it is paying $935 million for the
Marcellus acreage, or approximately $1,903/acre. CNX has also announced its intention to purchase outstanding
shares of CXG.
Spike in Rig Count:
• In Pennsylvania, from March 26 to April 9, the Marcellus rig count has risen from 78 to 88. The majority of
horizontal rig activity is in the northeast in Bradford (21), Tioga (14), Susquehanna (9), and Lycoming (9) counties
and then in the southwest in Washington (14) and Greene (3) counties. The most active operators in the play are
Chesapeake Energy (CHK-$23.75) (17), Talisman Energy (TLM-$16.41) (11) and RRC (11).
• In West Virginia, as of April 9, there were approximately 17 horizontal rigs running. Of those, probably 14 are
focused on the Marcellus in the northwest. Marshall County had the most rigs running with four, and the CHK was
the most active operator with eight.
Permitting Takes Off:
• In Pennsylvania, Marcellus horizontal permitting activity has begun to ramp up again with 298 horizontal permits
issued in March. This is up from the 87 and 125 issued in February and January. The majority of new permits were in
Bradford (113) and Susquehanna (66) counties. Among operators, CHK received the most new permits with 127.
• In West Virginia, from March 5 to April 15, 32 new permits were issued or approximately 41% of the permits this
year. Most of the new permits were issued in Harrison County to Antero Resources (10).
Marcellus Shale Investment Thesis:
• We estimate that a typical Marcellus horizontal well at $4/MMbtu, $5 and $6 NYMEX gas prices generates a 44%,
54% and 74% IRR, assuming a net 3.3 Bcfe EUR. Our top picks for Marcellus exposure are ATLS, RRC, Petroleum
Development Corporation (PETD-$24.44), EQT and Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG-$38.58)