Kirkland Represents Seneca Resources in Modified Marcellus Shale Joint Development Agreement

Kirkland & Ellis LLP represents Seneca Resources Corp., a wholly owned exploration and production subsidiary of National Fuel Gas Co. (NYSE: NFG), which today announced that Seneca Resources and IOG CRV - Marcellus, LLC, an affiliate of IOG Capital, LP, and funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group LLC, have agreed to a modified extension of their joint development agreement, which includes a commitment to develop additional Marcellus Shale natural gas assets in Elk, McKean and Cameron counties in north-central Pennsylvania.

Under the terms of the revised joint development agreement, Seneca and IOG commit to jointly participate in a program that will develop a total of 75 Marcellus wells in the Clermont/Rich Valley area in Pennsylvania. In December 2015, IOG initially committed to developing 42 wells with an option to participate in 38 additional wells if elected prior to July 1, 2016. The total number of wells and pad locations included in the revised joint development agreement were modified to reflect mutually beneficial changes in Seneca's drilling and completions schedule resulting from adjustments to gathering infrastructure plans and other operational factors. To date, 39 of the 75 joint development wells have been either completed and turned to sales or drilled and in the process of being completed, leaving an additional 36 wells to be developed under the revised joint development agreement. IOG was also granted an option to participate in a seven-well Marcellus pad that will be completed prior to Dec. 31, 2017. Should IOG choose to participate in the seven-well Marcellus pad, the total commitment under the joint development agreement would reach 82 wells.

More details on the transaction are available here.

The Kirkland & Ellis team was led by corporate partners Anthony Speier and David Castro, and included associates Christopher Heasley, Charles Nixon, Ryan Martin and Nick Wenker; debt finance partner William Bos; tax partner Thomas Evans and associate Polina Liberman; and environmental transactions partner Paul Tanaka.