Range Resources cuts spending, opens Mariner East pipeline

Marie Cusick

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Marie Cusick was the Harrisburg reporter for StateImpact Pennsylvania.

January 16, 2015 | 11:37 AM

Pennsylvania’s most prolific gas drilling company announced Thursday it’s planning to trim capital spending by nearly half-a-billion dollars in 2015, citing softening energy markets.

Nearly 95 percent of the company’s capital budget is targeted for the Marcellus Shale.

From the Pittsburgh Business Times:

Its 2015 capital plan will be reduced from the $1.3 billion announced in December to about $870 million because of what Range Resources said was “continuing erosion in commodity prices.” Its previous capital-spending plan was already about 18 percent less than 2014, according to a December story in the Pittsburgh Business Times.

Range expects to have 20 percent annual growth in production for the year, down slightly from the 24 percent growth it had in 2014.

The company also announced it has partially opened the Mariner East pipeline, which will carry natural gas liquids like ethane and propane from western Pennsylvania to the Marcus Hook industrial complex in Philadelphia. The pipeline is not fully operational yet.

“This is great news for Range and great news for Pennsylvania jobs at the Marcus Hook Industrial Complex along with consumers in Southeast Pennsylvania,” said Range CEO Jeff Ventura in a statement. “This project gives Range access to local markets in Southeast Pennsylvania and other Northeast U.S. propane markets as well as potentially the international markets.”