Consol says gas acquisition won’t affect coal status; analysts not so sure

摘要

Consol Energy’s planned $3.5 billion purchase of Appalachian oil and gas reserves from Dominion Resources makes it a major player in the Marcellus Shale, but company officials said Monday the deal did not represent a move away from coal. Consol CEO Brett Harvey used a conference call with investors to play up the company’s coal business as well as to explain the benefits of the acquisitions of the gas acquisition, stressing that one of Appalachia’s largest coal producers would remain just that. “We’re not going out of the coal business; we’re going into the low-cost gas business,” Harvey said.