EQT Names Continental Resources Exec Gary Gould As COO

[Editor's note: This story was updated at 8:46 a.m. CST March 8.]

EQT Corp. (NYSE: EQT) said Gary E. Gould will join the Appalachia gas producer’s leadership team to serve as its COO beginning in April.

Gould, formerly senior vice president of resource development at Continental Resources Inc., has more than three decades of industry experience, including direct experience in the Marcellus Shale where EQT operates, according to an EQT press release on March 7.

Analysts with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC said the appointment of Gould as EQT’s COO was an excellent choice adding that he brings a wealth experience from a tenured career in operations and engineering roles.

While at Continental, Gould led operations teams focused on the Bakken and Oklahoma’s Scoop and Stack plays plus oversaw sustained cost reductions and well performance improvements, wrote Drew Venker, vice president of equity research at Morgan Stanley.

“Gary’s experience will be a significant asset to optimize development after the operational issues that reduced EQT’s capital efficiency in 2018, in our view,” Venker said in the firm’s March 7 report.

Prior to joining Continental, Gould led the Marcellus operations team at Chesapeake Energy Corp. Additionally, he held positions earlier in his career at Kinder Morgan Inc., ConocoPhillips Co., Burlington Resources Inc. and Exxon Corp.

“Gary has extensive operating experience in unconventional oil and gas, including work in the Marcellus, and a proven track record of driving operational efficiency and lowering costs to achieve superior results,” Rob McNally, EQT’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “We are confident that Gary will make invaluable contributions to our success as we transition to manufacturing mode, position EQT as a leading low-cost production company and create both near-and long-term value for our shareholders.”

In recent months, EQT has faced pressure from shareholders including brothers Toby and Derek Rice, who reiterated their plan in early February to turnaround EQT and realize the potential promised from the merger of their company Rice Energy with EQT in 2017. The brother’s plan includes taking control of the company and installing Toby as CEO.

RELATED: Rice Brothers Vie For Control Of EQT

While Venker said the addition of Gould as EQT COO is fundamentally positive, Morgan Stanley continues to see EQT as a “show-me” story.

“Significant [year-over-year] well cost reductions are necessary to meet 2019 capex guidance, which are already reflected in the stock price, by our estimate,” he said. “Furthermore, we believe that the operational challenges in 2018 present risk to well productivity in 2019 and remain Underweight.”

Emily Patsy can be reached at epatsy@hartenergy.com.