Consol Energy Inc. and EQT Corp. were the only companies to submit bids for leases to drill for natural gas on 9,263 acres at Pittsburgh International Airport and Allegheny County Airport just outside of the city, according to the Allegheny County Airport Authority (ACAA).

EQT’s bid was $4,750/acre (about $44 million total), and Consol’s was $2,250/acre ($20.8 million), ACAA spokesperson JoAnn Jenny told NGI’s Shale Daily. Consol’s bid included a 10% deposit as required by ACAA’s request for bids. EQT did not include a deposit with its bid, but that may not automatically disqualify it from the process, Jenny said.

The ACAA said bidders had to agree to an 18% landowner’s royalty on all oil, liquid hydrocarbons and natural gas produced by the leasehold. The request for bids also required bidders to operate at least 25 horizontal wells, have pipeline access or a plan to provide access and have at least 5,000 net mineral acres under lease.

Canonsburg, PA-based Consol drilled and completed 12 wells in the Marcellus and placed 22 into production during 3Q2012 (see Shale Daily, Oct. 17). The company also drilled four wells in the Utica, completed two of them and placed one into production.

Pittsburgh-based EQT plans to spend about $820 million in 2013 to drill 153 wells targeting the Marcellus, $40 million to drill eight wells in the Utica, and $55 million to drill 11 wells into the Upper Devonian formation (see Shale Daily, Dec. 6).