BY ROBERT L. BAKER
Times-Shamrock Writer
Production Field Operator Bradley Noble, of Lakewood, scavenger hunt win allowed him to make the first choice of trips. Noble chose Hawaii. Bob Lain, of Plymouth is headed to Italy; while John Clarke of Tunkhannock will travel to Paris, France.
The top guns from Southwestern Energy’s Houston, Texas, office were in Wyoming County Tuesday afternoon (Sept. 30) to celebrate its 5-year investment in the Marcellus Shale.
SWN senior vice president Jack Bergeron, who oversees the company’s Marcellus operations in its Appalachia Division, said of the activity at Stonehedge Country Club, “It’s part pep rally with a big thank you” to the 160 or so employees who work in the Appalachia Division which encompasses the six counties of Susquehanna, Bradford, Sullivan, Tioga, Lycoming and Wyoming.
Bergeron said the ‘5-and-10’ gig was actually the first half of two big parties – the first in Factoryville to celebrate five years in the Marcellus play, and the second to celebrate 10 years in Arkansas’ Fayetteville Shale play.
On Wednesday, more employees who work in the southwest will be treated to a similar party in Conway, Ark.
Both plays have elevated Southwestern this year to being the fourth largest producer of natural gas in the lower 48 states (behind Exxon, Chesapeake and Andarko).
It was the 24th largest in 2008.
Bergeron said that the Fayetteville play produces about 2.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day and somewhere around the first of the new year the Marcellus shale production of Southwestern should surpass one BCF a day.
What might a billion cubic feet of gas do?
Citing industry statistics, Bergeron said it would be enough energy to supply electricity to 9 million homes, or 85,000 trips across the United States or 559 trips to the moon and back.
He said there were presently 16 BCFs a day being produced in the Marcellus from all of the exploration that has been going on across all companies working in the Marcellus play.
Southwestern’s investment has grown from its first well drilled in July of 2010 to almost 230 wells across six counties.
The company expects to have invested $700 million in the Marcellus play by year’s end, Bergeron said.
The number is behind the $760 million projected a year ago, but no one should read the difference as any sort of retrenchment, Bergeron added.
He said that pipeline capacity has impeded some of the investment, but the company is finding that its employees are exceeding their production targets, doing what formerly cost more “cheaper and less expensively leaving more for investment in the future.”
It is that value that has prompted the company to throw Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s parties not just with hors d’oeuvres to say thank you, but 20 employees in each location will be the recipients of their choice of 20 all-expense-paid vacations for two to such exotic destinations as the Super Bowl, or the Master’s Golf Tourney, or an Alaskan Fishing trip, or a NASCAR outing or Italy or Hawaii, for examples.
“Milestones such as this should be celebrated,” SWN President and CEO Steve Mueller said. “We’re proud of the work our employees have done in Pennsylvania, the partnerships we’ve built locally and the contributions we’re making to the country’s energy supply through our work in the state.”
Last year Southwestern announced an acquisition of 162,000 net acres, bringing its acreage position in the Marcellus to approximately 292,446 net acres.
Outside of its economic implications, chief operating officer Bill Way said that Southwestern has put a strong emphasis on building partnerships that benefit local communities.
In 2013, the company contributed $1.8 million to various communities where it works.
Through volunteer and financial support, the company focuses its giving in the areas of education, environment, disaster relief, community vitality, and health and nutrition, Way said.
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