Press Release Details

Forward Looking Statement Disclosure

Commentary on this conference call may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. National Fuel Gas Company (the “Company”) is providing this cautionary statement to make applicable and take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 for any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, the Company.

Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding future prospects, plans, objectives, goals, projections, estimates of gas quantities, strategies, future events or performance and underlying assumptions, capital structure, anticipated capital expenditures, completion of construction projects, projections for pension and other post-retirement benefit obligations, impacts of the adoption of new accounting rules, and possible outcomes of litigation or regulatory proceedings, as well as statements that are identified by the use of the words "anticipates," "estimates," "expects," "forecasts," "intends," "plans," "predicts," "projects," "believes," "seeks," "will," "may" and similar expressions. All forward-looking statements, whether written or oral and whether made by or on behalf of the Company, are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements.

The Company's expectations, beliefs and projections are expressed in good faith and are believed by the Company to have a reasonable basis, but there can be no assurance that management's expectations, beliefs or projections will result or be achieved or accomplished. In addition to other factors, the following are important factors that, in the view of the Company, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements:

  1. Impairments under the SEC's full cost ceiling test for natural gas reserves;
  2. Changes in the price of natural gas;
  3. Changes in laws, regulations or judicial interpretations to which the Company is subject, including those involving derivatives, taxes, safety, employment, climate change, other environmental matters, real property, and exploration and production activities such as hydraulic fracturing;
  4. Governmental/regulatory actions, initiatives and proceedings, including those involving rate cases (which address, among other things, target rates of return, rate design, retained natural gas and system modernization), environmental/safety requirements, affiliate relationships, industry structure, and franchise renewal;
  5. The Company’s ability to estimate accurately the time and resources necessary to meet emissions targets;
  6. Governmental/regulatory actions and/or market pressures to reduce or eliminate reliance on natural gas;
  7. Increased costs or delays or changes in plans with respect to Company projects or related projects of other companies, as well as difficulties or delays in obtaining necessary governmental approvals, permits or orders or in obtaining the cooperation of interconnecting facility operators;
  8. Changes in economic conditions, including inflationary pressures, supply chain issues, liquidity challenges, and global, national or regional recessions, and their effect on the demand for, and customers’ ability to pay for, the Company’s products and services;
  9. The creditworthiness or performance of the Company’s key suppliers, customers and counterparties;
  10. Financial and economic conditions, including the availability of credit, and occurrences affecting the Company’s ability to obtain financing on acceptable terms for working capital, capital expenditures and other investments, including any downgrades in the Company’s credit ratings and changes in interest rates and other capital market conditions;
  11. Changes in price differentials between similar quantities of natural gas sold at different geographic locations, and the effect of such changes on commodity production, revenues and demand for pipeline transportation capacity to or from such locations;
  12. The impact of information technology disruptions, cybersecurity or data security breaches;
  13. Factors affecting the Company’s ability to successfully identify, drill for and produce economically viable natural gas reserves, including among others geology, lease availability and costs, title disputes, weather conditions, water availability and disposal or recycling opportunities of used water, shortages, delays or unavailability of equipment and services required in drilling operations, insufficient gathering, processing and transportation capacity, the need to obtain governmental approvals and permits, and compliance with environmental laws and regulations;
  14. The Company's ability to complete strategic transactions;
  15. Increasing health care costs and the resulting effect on health insurance premiums and on the obligation to provide other post-retirement benefits; 
  16. Other changes in price differentials between similar quantities of natural gas having different quality, heating value, hydrocarbon mix or delivery date;
  17. The cost and effects of legal and administrative claims against the Company or activist shareholder campaigns to effect changes at the Company;
  18. Negotiations with the collective bargaining units representing the Company's workforce, including potential work stoppages during negotiations;
  19. Uncertainty of natural gas reserve estimates;
  20. Significant differences between the Company’s projected and actual production levels for natural gas;
  21. Changes in demographic patterns and weather conditions (including those related to climate change);
  22. Changes in the availability, price or accounting treatment of derivative financial instruments;
  23. Changes in laws, actuarial assumptions, the interest rate environment and the return on plan/trust assets related to the Company’s pension and other post-retirement benefits, which can affect future funding obligations and costs and plan liabilities;
  24. Economic disruptions or uninsured losses resulting from major accidents, fires, severe weather, natural disasters, terrorist activities or acts of war, as well as economic and operational disruptions due to third-party outages;
  25. Significant differences between the Company’s projected and actual capital expenditures and operating expenses; or
  26. Increasing costs of insurance, changes in coverage and the ability to obtain insurance.

Forward-looking statements include estimates of gas quantities. Proved gas reserves are those quantities of gas which, by analysis of geoscience and engineering data, can be estimated with reasonable certainty to be economically producible under existing economic conditions, operating methods and government regulations. Other estimates of gas quantities, including estimates of probable reserves, possible reserves, and resource potential, are by their nature more speculative than estimates of proved reserves. Accordingly, estimates other than proved reserves are subject to substantially greater risk of being actually realized.

Any forward-looking statements contained in this conference call speak only as of the date of this call. The Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this conference call. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 10-K and Forms 10-Q, available at www.investor.nationalfuelgas.com. You can also obtain these forms on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.


Seneca Resources Achieves Top Emissions Performance Certification of its Natural Gas Production under the MiQ Standard

August 16, 2022

WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y., Aug. 16, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Seneca Resources Company, LLC (Seneca), the Exploration and Production segment of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE: NFG) (National Fuel or the Company), announced that 100% of its natural gas production, over 1 billion cubic feet of daily gross production, has achieved an “A” certification grade under the MiQ Standard for Methane Emissions Performance (MiQ Standard), the highest available certification level.

The MiQ Standard is an independent framework for assessing methane emissions and practices for oil and gas facilities, and is a trusted and credible way to differentiate natural gas production based on methane emissions. The standard scores production, using an A – F letter grade, based on how well operators deploy integrated technologies to detect, measure, and abate emissions while also including a detailed assessment of policies and workpractices that evaluate an operator’s preparedness to prevent future methane emissions. As part of the certification process, a team of accredited third-party auditors from Geosyntec conducted an independent audit of Seneca’s natural gas operations, to assess its alignment with the MiQ Standard.

“Through its achievement of an MiQ ‘A’ grade, Seneca can credibly demonstrate to its customers and stakeholders the low methane intensity of its production. This certification also shows Seneca’s commitment to high standards of technology deployment and operational management to prevent methane leaks. MiQ is now certifying 17% of U.S. gas production, and we’re seeing significant demand from buyers for low methane emissions natural gas,” said Georges Tijbosch, CEO, MiQ.

“Seneca’s MiQ certification, in addition to its Equitable Origin certification attained in December 2021, is a testament to the strong emissions management we have deployed across all of our natural gas operations,” said Justin Loweth, President of Seneca Resources. “Seneca continues to evaluate and pilot methane emissions monitoring technologies in order to continually improve our detection and measurement practices and remain on the leading edge of the industry’s sustainability initiatives.”  

Seneca-produced gas certificates are currently available on the MiQ Digital Registry, which is where MiQ and joint MiQ-EO100TM Certificates are held throughout their full life cycle from issuance through retirement. Certificates can be traded bundled (combined with natural gas delivery) or unbundled.

About National Fuel Gas Company:
National Fuel is a diversified energy company headquartered in Western New York that operates an integrated collection of natural gas assets across four business segments: Exploration and Production, Pipeline and Storage, Gathering, and Utility. Additional information about National Fuel is available at www.nationalfuel.com.

About MiQ:
MiQ is a not-for–profit Foundation established by RMI (formerly the Rocky Mountain Institute), and global sustainability consultancy SYSTEMIQ. MiQ is pioneering a market-based approach to rapidly reduce methane emissions across the global natural gas sector.

MiQ Certification will, for the first time, credibly differentiate gas based on its methane emissions performance to provide a market mechanism that incentivizes methane reduction. MiQ’s vision is to create a market where certified natural gas can be traded like other historical commodities ultimately creating incentives to drive down methane emissions across the board.

Cautionary Statements
Certain statements contained herein, including statements identified by the use of the words “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “predicts,” “projects,” “believes,” “will,” “may,” and similar expressions, and statements other than statements of historical facts, are “forward-looking statements” as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. While National Fuel’s expectations, beliefs, and projections are expressed in good faith and are believed to have a reasonable basis, actual results may differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. In addition to other factors, the following are important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements: (1) National Fuel’s ability to estimate accurately the time and resources necessary to implement new practices; (2) governmental/regulatory actions and/or market pressures to reduce or eliminate reliance on natural gas; and (3) the other risks and uncertainties described in (i) National Fuel’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K at Item 7, MD&A, and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q at Item 2, MD&A, under the heading “Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements,” and (ii) the “Risk Factors” included in National Fuel’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K at Item 1A. National Fuel disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof. Because of these risks and uncertainties, readers should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements or use them for anything other than their intended purpose.


Analyst Contact: Brandon Haspett | 716-857-7697
Media Contact: Rob Boulware | 412-548-2572

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Source: National Fuel Gas Company