Consol Energy Inc. is an American energy company with interests in coal headquartered in the suburb of Cecil Township, in the Southpointe complex, just outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 2017, Consol formed two separate entities: CNX Resources Corporation and CONSOL Energy Inc. While CNX Resources Corp. focuses on natural gas, spin-off Consol Mining Corporation, now Consol Energy Inc. focuses on coal. In 2010, Consol was the leading producer of high-BTU bituminous coal in the United States and the U.S.'s largest underground coal mining company. The company employs more than 1,600 people.
History
Consolidation Coal Company (1860–1991)
Consol Energy was originally created in 1860 as the Consolidation Coal Company after several small mining companies in Western Maryland decided to combine their operations. The company was formally established in 1864 and headquartered in Cumberland, Maryland for the first 85 years (1864–1945), where the company became the largest bituminous coal company in the eastern United States.
Western Maryland's coal production rose about 1 million short tons in 1865, exceeded 4 million short tons by the turn of the century, and reached an all-time high of about 6 million short tons in 1907. A small amount of the coal production in the early 1900s was premium smithing coal (as in blacksmith) that was specially processed and delivered in boxcars to customers throughout the United States and Canada. In 1945, Consolidation Coal Company was merged with Pittsburgh Coal Company and its headquarters were moved to Western Pennsylvania.
With growing demand for natural gas in the U.S. following World War II, Consolidation Coal Company was acquired by the Continental Oil Company, or Conoco, in 1966. By the mid-1970s, Consolidation Coal Company operated 56 mines and employed nearly 20,000 miners. In 1981, Conoco along with Consolidation Coal Company was acquired by DuPont, which then sold some of its coal mining interests in Pennsylvania to the German energy company, Rheinbraun A.G.
Consol Energy (1991–present)
Looking to invest in coal reserves in North America, Rheinbraun A.G offered Dupont stakes in coal mines and $890 million in 1991 to join in an equal part joint venture creating Consol Energy. Despite the cost of coal dropping in the 1990s, Consol's long-term contracts and investments in longwall mining techniques allowed the company to remain competitive. In 1998, Dupont sold the large majority of its stake in Consol, leaving it with only a 6 percent share and Rheinbraun A.G with a 94 percent interest. Consol also acquired Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company in 1998.
In 1999, Consol underwent a public offering (NYSE: CNX) in order to pay down some of the debt the company had incurred with the majority buy-out from Dupont and the acquisition of Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company. Due to uncertainty surrounding demand for coal in the early 2000s, Consol began to place a greater emphasis on diversification, primarily into natural gas. Consol's first major natural gas investment was through the acquisition of MCN Energy Group Inc.'s methane reserves in southwestern Virginia for $160 million. In 2001, Consol acquired Conoco Inc.'s coalbed methane gas production assets in southwestern Virginia.
Consol subsidiaries CNX Ventures and CNX Land Resources also began diversification efforts during this time into methane gas and timber and farming. In 2006, Consol spun off its subsidiary CNX Gas as a standalone company, but retained 83 percent of the new company's shares. On June 28, 2006,Consol Energy entered the S&P 500 replacing Knight-Ridder. In 2007, CNX Gas also began investing heavily in natural gas exploration in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania. In 2010, Consol acquired Dominion Resources Inc.'s natural gas production and exploration assets for 3.74 billion dollars, which included nearly 500,000 acres of Marcellus potential, tripling Consol's position in the Marcellus to approximately 750,000 acres. Consol also acquired all of the remaining publicly owned shares of CNX Gas for a cash payment of $991 million.