Hi, thanks for joining us. I'm Nissa Darbonne, executive editor-at-large for Hart Energy, and I'm visiting with Toby Rice, CEO of EQT Corp., Appalachia's number one gas producer. EQT Corp. has some great news recently. Toby, tell us about net zero.

Toby Rice, CEO, EQT: Well, we are excited to announce that our company has finally achieved net zero for Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. That's been an amazing journey, but I think people need to understand we did it incredibly quickly. We did it incredibly cost-effectively, and it's been incredibly impactful.

And the reason why this is so important, Nissa, is because we cannot let the conversation be skewed and we cannot let people's concerns over the emissions associated with making our product overshadow emission-reducing benefits when people use our product.

And as an example, at EQT our carbon footprint was around a couple hundred thousand tons. That includes all of our emissions, including methane, which is the public's largest environmental concern about our industry. And that 200,000 ton carbon footprint is what people were saying is a reason why we need to stop doing natural gas development.

But that carbon footprint produces [an] amount of product [that] when put it on the world stage to replace coal, will have a decarbonizing impact [of] over 150 MMton. So a 200,000 ton cost to create an over 150 MMton benefit.

This is the type of things that we need to do to make sure people are thinking about the decisions and paths that we go down on a holistic basis. And we think this is one of the greatest deals in climate.

And for us to be net zero, [EQT took] that 200,000 ton carbon footprint off of the table and we can focus on the big meaningful decarbonizing solutions that occur when people use our product.

ND: Among those wanting to use this product, there are many. But the Googles, the Amazons, they're trying to reach their own net zero. Meanwhile too, they're adding AI data center capacity, including particular within the Appalachian Basin. So there's great potential for in-basin use of natural gas.

I'm going to imagine your premium net zero gas is going to be the one that power generators are going to want first.

TR: Certainly, we see customers wanting to make sure they get the most affordable, most reliable and cleanest form of energy. So our carbon footprint and our low carbon intensity of our product certainly is going to put our product at the top of the line.

But starting with clean natural gas, people don't understand that's just the beginning because we have technologies that will allow natural gas to be reliable, affordable and potentially zero carbon in the future. And those technologies specifically are carbon capture.

We're really excited about the skillsets that we possess as a company in the industry [for] getting things out of the ground. Guess what? That skillset is going to be used and it's going to work very well to put things back into the ground. And carbon capture will be our key to making natural gas a zero carbon energy solution in the long term.

So it's a really amazing opportunity and we're going to certainly showcase the environmental performance of our products today.

But, we're also doing things that will meet the ultimate objective for any energy producer in the world, whether you're in wind, solar, batteries, nuclear, natural gas or oil. If you're in the energy business, you're in a race to be the first energy producer that can deliver the trifecta of attributes: affordable, reliable and zero carbon energy. We think natural gas is positioned to win that race and carbon capture will be the technology that gets us there.

ND: To provide a little bit of chronological context here, today is Nov. 7. The 2024 [presidential] election was just two days ago. The results became clear just yesterday [Nov. 6]. Based on that, can we expect now the LNG pause [to be] over?

TR: Yes, the LNG pause is going to be reversed. I think President-elect Trump said that that was going to happen.

But to be honest with you, the LNG pause was going to be reversed regardless of which administration or which candidate won the election. And why is that? It's because this LNG pause received massive criticism from both sides. People understand very clearly that it's bad for the planet, it's bad for people, and it's bad for our energy security because exports mean surplus and surplus means security for Americans.

I think it was a shortsighted decision that fortunately is going to be reversed.

But one thing that I'll tell you is I think that’s really important for people to understand is over the last 24 months of us advocating for energy a little bit more loudly, we've met with hundreds of politicians on both sides of the aisle.

And admittedly, I will tell you, [a] majority of the Democrats that we've been meeting with, every single one of these politicians are in violent agreement on energy. Every politician wants more reliable, more affordable, cleaner energy.

So I think we have a really amazing opportunity to use energy as a vehicle to unite public -- and with LNG, what an opportunity. Not only can we meet the world's demand to lower global emissions, we can also meet the world's demand to increase energy security of our allies, Americans.

So it's a really awesome opportunity that will help build this country and bring them together.

ND: Thank you, Toby. And thank you for joining us. Find more actionable energy intelligence right here at hartenergy.com.

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