Range Resources posts $91.7M loss in first quarter
Range Resources Corp. reported a $91.7 million first-quarter loss Thursday, a result of continuing low prices for natural gas.
The Fort Worth, Texas-based oil and gas exploration company, which does most of its drilling in the Marcellus Shale strata in Southwestern Pennsylvania, swung to the loss following a $27.7 profit in the comparable quarter of 2015.
Range reported its earnings following the close of Thursday’s stock market and noted the 28 percent decline in revenue came despite logging a 17 percent increase in natural gas production.
Despite the negative financial performance, the company was upbeat about future prospects, noting the first quarter saw sales and exports of ethane and propane through the Mariner East Pipeline to the Marcus Hook terminal near Philadelphia.
“The ability to ship ethane and propane to international markets is a big advantage for Range,” said Range Resources Chief Executive Officer Jeff Ventura during a conference call with analysts Friday.
He added the company expects to see more than 80 percent of its natural gas production shipped outside of the Appalachian Basin by the end of 2017.
During the quarter, Range closed on the sale of its Bradford County nonoperated Marcellus assets for $110 million.
In April, it signed a sale agreement for certain assets in central Oklahoma for $77 million, which is expected to close in the second quarter. The assets consist of 9,200 acres and about 5 million cubic feet per day from about 200 wells in three counties.
Ventura said Friday the proceeds from the two asset sales will enable the company to operate through the rest of the year without incurring any additional debt.
“The Marcellus will continue to be the focal point of our activity for this year,” he said.
As for determining drilling priorities in the region going forward, Ventura said, “The deciding factor will be, ‘what are the economics of the Utica versus the Marcellus.'”