PITTSBURGH, Oct. 6, 2015
/PRNewswire/ -- CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNX) announced today
the closing of two separate asset sale transactions.
CONSOL Energy sold its 49% interest in the Western Allegheny
Energy (WAE) joint venture to Rosebud Mining Company. The WAE
transaction included the conveyance of 63 million tons of coal
reserves. This transaction closed on September 30, 2015.
Separately, CONSOL Energy sold 6.7 million tons of lignite
reserves located in South Texas to
a private entity. This transaction closed on October 6, 2015.
Aggregate transaction-related proceeds of $101 million include: $95
million in cash, $2 million in
the assumption of liabilities, and $4
million of advance minimum royalties paid under the terms of
leases.
CONSOL Energy expected a $6
million EBITDA contribution in 2016 related to the assets
sold in the transactions. CONSOL Energy intends to use the proceeds
from these transactions to reduce debt.
About CONSOL Energy
CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNX) is
a Pittsburgh-based producer of
natural gas and coal. The company is one of the largest independent
natural gas exploration, development and production companies, with
operations centered in the major shale formations of the
Appalachian basin. CONSOL Energy deploys an organic growth strategy
focused on rapidly developing its resource base. As of December 31, 2014, CONSOL Energy had 6.8 trillion
cubic feet equivalent of proved natural gas reserves. The company's
premium coals are sold to electricity generators and steel makers,
both domestically and internationally. CONSOL Energy is a member of
the Standard & Poor's 500 Equity Index. Additional information
can be found at www.consolenergy.com.
Cautionary Statements
Various statements in this
release, including those that express a belief, expectation or
intention, may be considered forward-looking statements under
federal securities laws including Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") that involve risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from projected results. Accordingly, investors should not place
undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of
actual results. The forward-looking statements may include
projections and estimates concerning the timing and success of
specific projects and our future production, revenues, income and
capital spending. When we use the words "believe," "intend,"
"expect," "may," "should," "anticipate," "could," "estimate,"
"plan," "predict," "project," or their negatives, or other similar
expressions, the statements which include those words are usually
forward-looking statements. When we describe strategy that involves
risks or uncertainties, we are making forward-looking statements.
The forward-looking statements in this press release, if any, speak
only as of the date of this press release; we disclaim any
obligation to update these statements. We have based these
forward-looking statements on our current expectations and
assumptions about future events. While our management considers
these expectations and assumptions to be reasonable, they are
inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive,
regulatory and other risks, contingencies and uncertainties, most
of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our
control. These risks, contingencies and uncertainties relate to,
among other matters, the following: deterioration in economic
conditions in any of the industries in which our customers operate;
an extended decline in prices we receive for our gas, natural gas
liquids and coal including the impact on gas prices of our gas
operations being concentrated in Appalachia which has experienced a
dramatic increase in gas production and decline in gas pricing
relative to the benchmark Henry Hub prices; foreign currency
fluctuations affecting the competitiveness of our coal abroad; our
customers extending existing contracts or entering into new
long-term contracts for coal; our reliance on major customers; our
inability to collect payments from customers if their
creditworthiness declines; the disruption of rail, barge,
gathering, processing and transportation facilities and other
systems that deliver our gas and coal to market; a loss of our
competitive position because of the competitive nature of the gas
and coal industries, or a loss of our competitive position because
of overcapacity in these industries impairing our profitability;
coal users switching to other fuels in order to comply with various
environmental standards related to coal combustion emissions; the
impact of potential, as well as any adopted regulations relating to
greenhouse gas emissions on the demand for natural gas and coal ;
the risks inherent in gas and coal operations, including our
reliance upon third party contractors, being subject to unexpected
disruptions, including geological conditions, equipment failure,
timing of completion of significant construction or repair of
equipment, fires, explosions, accidents and weather conditions
which could impact financial results; decreases in the availability
of, or increases in, the price of commodities or capital equipment
used in our mining operations; obtaining and renewing governmental
permits and approvals for our natural gas and coal gas operations;
the effects of government regulation on the discharge into the
water or air, and the disposal and clean-up of, hazardous
substances and wastes generated during our natural gas and coal
operations; our ability to find adequate water sources for our use
in gas drilling, or our ability to dispose of water used or removed
from strata in connection with our gas operations at a reasonable
cost and within applicable environmental rules; the effects of
stringent federal and state employee health and safety regulations,
including the ability of regulators to shut down a mine; the
potential for liabilities arising from environmental contamination
or alleged environmental contamination in connection with our past
or current gas and coal operations; the effects of mine closing,
reclamation, gas well closing and certain other liabilities;
uncertainties in estimating our economically recoverable gas, oil
and coal reserves; defects may exist in our chain of title and we
may incur additional costs associated with perfecting title for gas
rights on some of our properties or failing to acquire these
additional rights we may have to reduce our estimated reserves; the
outcomes of various legal proceedings, which are more fully
described in our reports filed under the Exchange Act; increased
exposure to employee-related long-term liabilities; lump sum
payments made to retiring salaried employees pursuant to our
defined benefit pension plan exceeding total service and interest
cost in a plan year; replacing our natural gas and oil reserves,
which if not replaced, will cause our gas and oil reserves and
production to decline; acquisitions that we recently completed or
may make in the future including the accuracy of our assessment of
the acquired businesses and their risks, achieving any anticipated
synergies, integrating the acquisitions and unanticipated changes
that could affect assumptions we may have made and asset
monetization transactions, including sales of additional
interests in our thermal coal or other assets to CNX Coal Resources
LP and divestitures to third parties we anticipate may not occur or
produce anticipated proceeds; the terms of our existing joint
ventures restrict flexibility, actions taken by the other party in
our gas joint ventures may impact our financial position and
various circumstances could cause us not to realize the benefits we
anticipate receiving from these joint ventures; risks
associated with our debt; our hedging activities may prevent us
from benefiting from price increases and may expose us to other
risks; changes in federal or state income tax laws, particularly in
the area of percentage depletion and intangible drilling costs,
could cause our financial position and profitability to
deteriorate; failure to appropriately allocate capital and other
resources among our strategic opportunities may adversely affect
our financial condition; failure by Murray Energy to satisfy
liabilities it acquired from us, or failure to perform its
obligations under various arrangements, which we guaranteed, could
materially or adversely affect our results of operations, financial
position, and cash flows; information theft, data corruption
and/or financial loss resulting from a terrorist attack or cyber
incident; operating in a single geographic area; and
other factors discussed in the 2014 Form 10-K under "Risk Factors,"
as updated by any subsequent Form 10-Qs, which are on file at the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
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SOURCE CONSOL Energy Inc.