EQT 10-Q 2023-06-30

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

or

COMMISSION FILE NUMBER: 001-03551

EQT CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(412) 553-5700

(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," "smaller reporting company" and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

As of July 21, 2023, 361,657,681 shares of common stock, no par value, of the registrant were outstanding.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

EQT CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

STATEMENTS OF CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED OPERATIONS (UNAUDITED)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

EQT CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

STATEMENTS OF CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED COMPREHENSIVE (LOSS) INCOME (UNAUDITED)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

EQT CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (UNAUDITED)

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The following discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and the notes thereto included in this report. Unless the context otherwise indicates, all references in this report to "EQT," the "Company," "we," "us," or "our" are to EQT Corporation and its subsidiaries, collectively.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act). Statements that do not relate strictly to historical or current facts are forward-looking and are usually identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "estimate," "could," "would," "will," "may," "forecast," "approximate," "expect," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe" and other words of similar meaning, or the negative thereof, in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial matters. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, forward-looking statements contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q include the expectations of our plans, strategies, objectives and growth and anticipated financial and operational performance, including guidance regarding our strategy to develop our reserves; drilling plans and programs, including availability of capital to complete these plans and programs; total resource potential and drilling inventory duration; projected production and sales volume and growth rates; natural gas prices; changes in basis and the impact of commodity prices on our business; potential future impairments of our assets; projected well costs and capital expenditures; infrastructure programs; the cost, capacity, and timing of obtaining regulatory approvals; our ability to successfully implement and execute our operational, organizational, technological and environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives, and achieve the anticipated results of such initiatives; projected gathering and compression rates; potential or pending acquisition transactions, including the pending Tug Hill and XcL Midstream Acquisition (defined and discussed in Note 6 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022), or other strategic transactions, the timing thereof and our ability to achieve the intended operational, financial and strategic benefits from any such transactions; the amount and timing of any repayments, redemptions or repurchases of our common stock, outstanding debt securities or other debt instruments; our ability to retire our debt and the timing of such retirements, if any; the projected amount and timing of dividends; projected cash flows and free cash flow and the timing thereof; liquidity and financing requirements, including funding sources and availability; our ability to maintain or improve our credit ratings, leverage levels and financial profile; our hedging strategy and projected margin posting obligations; the effects of litigation, government regulation and tax position; and the expected impact of changes to tax laws.

The forward-looking statements included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q 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. We have based these forward-looking statements on current expectations and assumptions about future events, taking into account all information currently known by us. While we consider these expectations and assumptions to be reasonable, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, regulatory and other risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and beyond our control. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, volatility of commodity prices; the costs and results of drilling and operations; uncertainties about estimates of reserves, identification of drilling locations and the ability to add proved reserves in the future; the assumptions underlying production forecasts; the quality of technical data; our ability to appropriately allocate capital and other resources among our strategic opportunities; access to and cost of capital, including as a result of rising interest rates and other economic uncertainties; our hedging and other financial contracts; inherent hazards and risks normally incidental to drilling for, producing, transporting and storing natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and oil; cyber security risks and acts of sabotage; availability and cost of drilling rigs, completion services, equipment, supplies, personnel, oilfield services and sand and water required to execute our exploration and development plans, including as a result of inflationary pressures; risks associated with operating primarily in the Appalachian Basin and obtaining a substantial amount of our midstream services from Equitrans Midstream Corporation (Equitrans Midstream); the ability to obtain environmental and other permits and the timing thereof; government regulation or action, including regulations pertaining to methane and other greenhouse gas emissions; negative public perception of the fossil fuels industry; increased consumer demand for alternatives to natural gas; environmental and weather risks, including the possible impacts of climate change; and disruptions to our business due to acquisitions and other significant transactions, including the pending Tug Hill and XcL Midstream Acquisition. These and other risks and uncertainties are described under Item 1A., "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, and may be updated by Part II, Item 1A., "Risk Factors" in subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other documents we subsequently file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made, and, except as required by law, we do not intend to correct or update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

EQT CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

Consolidated Results of Operations

Net loss attributable to EQT Corporation for the three months ended June 30, 2023 was $66.6 million, $0.18 per diluted share, compared to net income attributable to EQT Corporation for the same period in 2022 of $891.4 million, $2.19 per diluted share. The change was attributable primarily to decreased sales of natural gas, NGLs and oil, partly offset by a gain on derivatives in 2023 compared to a loss on derivatives in 2022 and income tax benefit in 2023 compared to income tax expense in 2022.

Net income attributable to EQT Corporation for the six months ended June 30, 2023 was $1,151.9 million, $2.94 per diluted share, compared to net loss attributable to EQT Corporation for the same period in 2022 of $624.7 million, $1.68 per diluted share. The change was attributable primarily to a gain on derivatives in 2023 compared to a loss on derivatives in 2022 and impairment of the contract asset in 2022, partly offset by decreased sales of natural gas, NGLs and oil and income tax expense in 2023 compared to income tax benefit in 2022.

See "Sales Volume and Revenues" and "Operating Expenses" for discussions of items affecting operating income and "Other Income Statement Items" for a discussion of other income

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Commodity Price Risk and Derivative Instruments. Our primary market risk exposure is the volatility of future prices for natural gas and NGLs. Due to the volatility of commodity prices, we are unable to predict future potential movements in the market prices for natural gas and NGLs at our ultimate sales points and, thus, cannot predict the ultimate impact of prices on our operations. Prolonged low, or significant, extended declines in, natural gas and NGLs prices could adversely affect, among other things, our development plans, which would decrease the pace of development and the level of our proved reserves. Increases in natural gas and NGLs prices may be accompanied by, or result in, increased well drilling costs, increased production taxes, increased LOE, increased volatility in seasonal gas price spreads for our storage assets and increased end-user conservation or conversion to alternative fuels. In addition, to the extent we have hedged our production at prices below the current market price, we will not benefit fully from an increase in the price of natural gas, and, depending on our then-current credit ratings and the terms of our hedging contracts, we may be required to post additional margin with our hedging counterparties.

The overall objective of our hedging program is to protect our cash flows from undue exposure to the risk of changing commodity prices. Our use of derivatives is further described in Note 3 to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and "Commodity Risk Management" under "Capital Resources and Liquidity" in Item 2., "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations." Our OTC derivative commodity instruments are placed primarily with financial institutions and the creditworthiness of those institutions is regularly monitored. We primarily enter into derivative instruments to hedge forecasted sales of production. We also enter into derivative instruments to hedge basis. Our use of derivative instruments is implemented under a set of policies approved by our management-level Hedge and Financial Risk Committee and is reviewed by our Board of Directors.

For derivative commodity instruments used to hedge our forecasted sales of production, which are at, for the most part, NYMEX natural gas prices, we set policy limits relative to the expected production and sales levels that are exposed to price risk. We have an insignificant amount of financial natural gas derivative commodity instruments for trading purposes.

The derivative commodity instruments we use are primarily swap, collar and option agreements. These agreements may require payments to, or receipt of payments from, counterparties based on the differential between two prices for the commodity. We use these agreements to hedge our NYMEX and basis exposure. We may also use other contractual agreements when executing our commodity hedging strategy.

We monitor price and production levels on a continuous basis and make adjustments to quantities hedged as warranted.

A hypothetical decrease of 10% in the NYMEX natural gas price on June 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022 would increase the fair value of our natural gas derivative commodity instruments by approximately $352 million and $727 million, respectively. A hypothetical increase of 10% in the NYMEX natural gas price on June 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022 would decrease the fair value of our natural gas derivative commodity instruments by approximately $273 million and $333 million, respectively. For purposes of this analysis, we applied the 10% change in the NYMEX natural gas price on June 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022 to our natural gas derivative commodity instruments as of June 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022 to calculate the hypothetical change in fair value. The change in fair value was determined using a method similar to our normal process for determining derivative commodity instrument fair value described in Note 4 to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

The above analysis of our derivative commodity instruments does not include the offsetting impact that the same hypothetical price movement may have on our physical sales of natural gas. The portfolio of derivative commodity instruments held to hedge our forecasted produced natural gas approximates a portion of our expected physical sales of natural gas; therefore, an adverse impact to the fair value of the portfolio of derivative commodity instruments held to hedge our forecasted production associated with the hypothetical changes in commodity prices referenced above should be offset by a favorable impact on our physical sales of natural gas, assuming that the derivative commodity instruments are not closed in advance of their expected term and the derivative commodity instruments continue to function effectively as hedges of the underlying risk.

If the underlying physical transactions or positions are liquidated prior to the maturity of the derivative commodity instruments, a loss on the financial instruments may occur or the derivative commodity instruments might be worthless as determined by the prevailing market value on their termination or maturity date, whichever comes first.

Interest Rate Risk. Changes in market interest rates affect the amount of interest we earn on cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments and the interest rate we pay on borrowings under our credit facility and Term Loan Facility. None of the interest we pay on our senior notes fluctuates based on changes to market interest rates. There were no borrowings for the six months ended June 30, 2023 under our credit facility or Term Loan Facility.

Interest rates on our 6.125% senior notes due 2025 and 7.00% senior notes due 2030 fluctuate based on changes to the credit ratings assigned to our senior notes by Moody's, S&P and Fitch. Interest rates on our other outstanding senior notes do not fluctuate based on changes to the credit ratings assigned to our senior notes by Moody's, S&P and Fitch. For a discussion of credit rating downgrade risk, see Item 1A., "Risk Factors – Our exploration and production operations have substantial capital requirements, and we may not be able to obtain needed capital or financing on satisfactory terms" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022. Changes in interest rates affect the fair value of our fixed rate debt. See Note 6 to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion of our debt and Note 4 to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for a discussion of fair value measurements, including the fair value measurement of our debt.

Other Market Risks. We are exposed to credit loss in the event of nonperformance by counterparties to our derivative contracts. This credit exposure is limited to derivative contracts with a positive fair value, which may change as market prices change. Our OTC derivative instruments are primarily with financial institutions and, thus, are subject to events that would impact those companies individually as well as the financial industry as a whole. We use various processes and analyses to monitor and evaluate our credit risk exposures, including monitoring current market conditions and counterparty credit fundamentals. Credit exposure is controlled through credit approvals and limits based on counterparty credit fundamentals. To manage the level of credit risk, we enter into transactions primarily with financial counterparties that are of investment grade, enter into netting agreements whenever possible and may obtain collateral or other security.

Approximately 60%, or $608 million, of our OTC derivative contracts outstanding at June 30, 2023 had a positive fair value. Approximately 36%, or $710 million, of our OTC derivative contracts outstanding at December 31, 2022 had a positive fair value.

As of June 30, 2023, we were not in default under any derivative contracts and had no knowledge of default by any counterparty to our derivative contracts. During the three months ended June 30, 2023, we made no adjustments to the fair value of our derivative contracts due to credit related concerns outside of the normal non-performance risk adjustment included in our established fair value procedure. We monitor market conditions that may impact the fair value of our derivative contracts.

We are exposed to the risk of nonperformance by credit customers on physical sales of natural gas, NGLs and oil. Revenues and related accounts receivable from our operations are generated primarily from the sale of our produced natural gas, NGLs and oil to marketers, utilities and industrial customers located in the Appalachian Basin and in markets that are accessible through our transportation portfolio, which includes markets in the Gulf Coast, Midwest and Northeast United States and Canada. We also contract with certain processors to market a portion of our NGLs on our behalf.

No one lender of the large group of financial institutions in the syndicate for our credit facility holds more than 10% of the financial commitments under such facility. The large syndicate group and relatively low percentage of participation by each lender are expected to limit our exposure to disruption or consolidation in the banking industry.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our management, with the participation of our principal executive officer and our principal financial officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act), as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based on that evaluation, our principal executive officer and our principal financial officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of the end of the period covered by this report.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act) that occurred during the second quarter of 2023 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

PART II. OTHER INFORMATION

Item 1. Legal Proceedings

In the ordinary course of business, various legal and regulatory claims and proceedings are pending or threatened against us. While the amounts claimed may be substantial, we are unable to predict with certainty the ultimate outcome of such claims and proceedings. We accrue legal and other direct costs related to loss contingencies when actually incurred. We have established reserves in amounts that we believe to be appropriate for pending matters and, after consultation with counsel and giving appropriate consideration to available insurance, we believe that the ultimate outcome of any pending matter involving us will not materially affect our financial position, results of operations or liquidity.

Except as noted below, there are no material updates to the matters previously disclosed in Part I, Item 3., "Legal Proceedings" of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, or in Part II, Item 1., "Legal Proceedings" of our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2023.

Environmental Proceedings

GPU Consent Order Inaccuracies, PADEP. On December 16, 2020, EQT Production Company, a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of EQT Corporation, entered into a Consent Order and Agreement (the GPU COA) with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (the PADEP), pursuant to which EQT Production Company agreed to install secondary containment around Gas Production Units (GPUs) located at wells that were drilled between October 8, 2016 and February 4, 2019. In January 2022, we discovered that the list of GPUs disclosed in the GPU COA was incomplete, and we promptly notified the PADEP of the inaccuracies. On April 26, 2023, we executed a Second Amendment to the GPU COA to update the list of GPUs to correct the inaccuracies, and we agreed to pay $351,000 to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania related to this matter. We remitted payment in full of the agreed amount to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in May 2023, and this matter is now resolved. The payment and the resolution of this matter did not have a material impact on our financial position, results of operations or liquidity.

Produced Water Release, Washington County, Pennsylvania. In December 2021, we discovered a produced water leak associated with a GPU disposal line at one of our well pad sites located in Washington County, Pennsylvania. We self-reported the release to the PADEP spill hotline on December 4, 2021, and initiated cleanup of the released produced water. The initial release was determined to be in excess of one barrel and we entered the remediation project into the PADEP's Land Recycling and Environmental Remediation Act 2 Program (Act 2) for voluntary cleanup. In January 2022, we determined the release was larger than initially discovered and we disclosed this information to the PADEP on January 14, 2022. We submitted our Site Characterization Report to the PADEP on January 16, 2023, and we intend to initiate remediation of the impacted area according to the PADEP's Act 2 guidelines. We subsequently negotiated a settlement with the PADEP including this matter, as well as the Plugging Consent Order Non-Compliance matter described below. On May 23, 2023, we entered into a Consent Assessment of Civil Penalty with the PADEP, pursuant to which we agreed to pay $4,700,000 to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania related to this matter. We remitted payment in full of the agreed amount to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in May 2023, and this matter is now resolved. The payment and the resolution of this matter did not have a material impact on our financial position, results of operations or liquidity.

Plugging Consent Order Non-Compliance, PADEP. In November 2016, we voluntarily entered into a Consent Order and Agreement with the PADEP to plug a certain number of our abandoned wells on an annual basis, and to remit Well Site Restoration Reports and Well Plugging Certificates to the PADEP in connection with such efforts. In August 2022, the PADEP sent us a notification alleging that, although we had met or exceeded the requirements to plug the requisite abandoned wells within the agreed upon schedule, we had not met all of the administrative requirements for remitting Well Site Restoration Reports and Well Plugging Certificates. We resolved the administrative items in January 2023, and negotiated a settlement with the PADEP including this matter, as well as the Produced Water Release matter described above. On May 23, 2023, we entered into a Consent Order and Agreement with the PADEP, pursuant to which we agreed to pay $4,000,000 related to this matter. We remitted payment of $1,500,000 of the agreed amount to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in May 2023. The remaining $2,500,000 of the agreed amount will be paid by us to fund one or more approved community environmental projects at a later date, per the terms of the Consent Order and Agreement. This matter is now resolved. The payments and the resolution of this matter did not have a material impact on our financial position, results of operations or liquidity.

There are no material changes to the risk factors previously disclosed in Item 1A., "Risk Factors" of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022.

Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

Conversion of Certain Convertible Notes. During the second quarter of 2023, we settled conversion notices submitted by holders of Convertible Notes (defined and discussed in Note 6 to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements) requesting the conversion of the aggregate principal of certain Convertible Notes (the Converted Notes) by issuing to such converting holders shares of EQT Corporation common stock as stated in the below table. Such shares were issued in transactions exempt from registration under the Securities Act by virtue of Section 3(a)(9) thereof, because no commission or other remuneration was paid in connection with conversion of the Converted Notes.

Repurchases of Equity Securities. We did not repurchase any equity securities registered under Section 12 of the Exchange Act during the second quarter of 2023.

On December 13, 2021, we announced that our Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program (the Share Repurchase Program) authorizing us to repurchase shares of our outstanding common stock for an aggregate purchase price of up to $1 billion, excluding fees, commissions and expenses. On September 6, 2022, we announced that our Board of Directors approved a $1 billion increase to the Share Repurchase Program, pursuant to which approval we are authorized to repurchase shares of our outstanding common stock for an aggregate purchase price of up to $2 billion, excluding fees, commissions and expenses. Repurchases under the Share Repurchase Program may be made from time to time in amounts and at prices we deem appropriate and will be subject to a variety of factors, including the market price of our common stock, general market and economic conditions, applicable legal requirements and other considerations. The Share Repurchase Program was originally scheduled to expire on December 31, 2023; however, on April 26, 2023, we announced that our Board of Directors approved a one-year extension of the Share Repurchase Program. As a result of such extension, the Share Repurchase Program will expire on December 31, 2024, but it may be suspended, modified or discontinued at any time without prior notice. As of June 30, 2023, we had purchased shares for an aggregate purchase price of $622.1 million, excluding fees, commissions and expenses, under the Share Repurchase Program since its inception, and the approximate dollar value of shares that may yet be purchased under the Share Repurchase Program is $1.4 billion.

During the three months ended June 30, 2023, none of our directors or "officers" (as such term is defined in Rule 16a-1(f) under the Exchange Act) adopted or terminated a "Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement” or “non-Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement" (as each term is defined in Item 408(a) of Regulation S-K).

*Certain provisions, schedules and/or similar attachments to this exhibit have been omitted pursuant to Item 601(a)(5) and/or Item 601(b)(10)(iv), as applicable, of Regulation S-K. EQT Corporation agrees to furnish an unredacted, supplemental copy (including any omitted schedule or attachment) to the Securities Exchange Commission upon request. Redactions and omissions are designated with brackets containing asterisks.

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

Date: July 26, 2023