History Consol Energy

table of cumberland coal trade production 1865

consol energy created in 1860 consolidation coal company after several small mining companies in western maryland decided combine operations. company formally established in 1864 , headquartered in cumberland, maryland first 85 years (1864–1945), company became largest bituminous coal company in eastern united states.

western maryland s coal production rose 1 million short tons in 1865, exceeded 4 million short tons turn of century, , reached all-time high of 6 million short tons in 1907. small amount of coal production in 1900s premium smithing coal (as in blacksmith) specially processed , delivered in boxcars customers throughout united states , canada. in 1945, consolidation coal company merged pittsburgh coal company , headquarters moved western pennsylvania.

with growing demand natural gas in u.s. following world war ii, consolidation coal company acquired continental oil company, or conoco, in 1966. mid-1970s, consolidation coal company operated 56 mines , employed 20,000 miners. in 1981, conoco along consolidation coal company acquired dupont, sold of coal mining interests in pennsylvania german energy company, rheinbraun a.g.

consol energy (1991-present)

looking invest in coal reserves in north america, rheinbraun a.g offered dupont stakes in coal mines , $890 million in 1991 join in equal part joint venture creating consol energy. despite cost of coal dropping in 1990s, consol s long-term contracts , investments in longwall mining techniques allowed company remain competitive. in 1998, dupont sold large majority of stake in consol, leaving 6 percent share , rheinbraun a.g 94 percent interest. consol acquired rochester & pittsburgh coal company in 1998.

in 1999, consol underwent public offering (nyse: cnx) in order pay down of debt company had incurred majority buy-out dupont , acquisition of rochester & pittsburgh coal company. due uncertainty surrounding demand coal in 2000s, consol began place greater emphasis on diversification, natural gas. consol s first major natural gas investment through acquisition of mcn energy group inc. s methane reserves in southwestern virginia $160 million. in 2001, consol acquired conoco inc. s coalbed methane gas production assets in southwestern virginia.

consol subsidiaries cnx ventures , cnx land resources began diversification efforts during time methane gas , timber , farming. in 2006, consol spun off subsidiary cnx gas standalone company, retained 83 percent of new company s shares. on june 28, 2006,consol energy entered s&p 500 replacing knight-ridder. in 2007, cnx gas began investing heavily in natural gas exploration in marcellus shale in pennsylvania. in 2010, consol acquired dominion resources inc. s natural gas production , exploration assets 3.74 billion dollars, included 500,000 acres of marcellus potential, tripling consol s position in marcellus approximately 750,000 acres. consol acquired of remaining publicly owned shares of cnx gas cash payment of $991 million.

in 2010 consol named forbes magazine 1 of 100 trustworthy companies. in 2011, consol entered 2 separate joint venture agreements expedite natural gas production. first, agreement noble energy, inc. jointly develop company s 663,350 marcellus shale acres in pennsylvania , west virginia. second joint agreement, hess corporation, jointly explore , develop consol s 200,000 utica shale acres in ohio. consol began expansion of baltimore terminal in 2011 increase capacity 14 million 16 million tons increase revenue sales of metallurgical coal.