April 28, 2019 - “Domestically, coal demand is impacted by abundant natural gas…but that could be changing: natural gas will not stay cheap forever,” said Jimmy Brock, CEO, CONSOL Energy in addressing the 56^th Spring Meeting of Careers in Coal (CI-Coal) taking place this week on Hilton Head Island, SC. “Coal provides resiliency, which is very visible in extreme weather, and coal continues to supply the lowest fully-loaded cost of electricity”.

In his keynote address Improving Quality of Lives – Why Coal Matters, Brock emphasized that the industry will have to continue to invest in talent and new technology. There is an opportunity for rewarding and challenging careers in a continually evolving industry. Lack of capital investment could drive a significant unmet demand and US coal producers have a key role to play in this growing market, he said.

Jimmy Brock

“Globally, coal is a growth industry with a massive installed capacity base catering to a basic necessity - access to electricity,” continued Brock. “Major economies rely on coal for more that 30% of their electricity needs and 110GW of coal-fired capacity is under construction with another 300GW being planned.

Brock described CONSOL Energy (NYSE: CEIX) as a coal producer and exporter based in Canonsburg, PA and successfully spun off from CNX Resources Corporation E&P business in November 2017. Assets include: 90% economic ownership of the Pennsylvania Mining Complex (PAMC); 100% ownership of CONSOL Marine Terminal (CMT) IN Baltimore, MD; and 1.6 billion tons of underdeveloped coal reserves in Northern App., Central App., and Illinois Basins.

PAMC is the largest underground mining complex in North America consisting of Bailey, Enlow Fork, and Harvey coal mines and related infrastructure as well as 699 mm tons of reserves in Pittsburgh No 8 seam; five longwalls and 15-17 continuous mining sections; and a central preparation plant (8,200 raw tons/hour) and loadout (9,000 clean tons/hour). The 2018 production was 27.6 million tons. CMT achieved a record annual revenue of $65 mm.

“Major global economies rely on coal for baseload, and growth continues with global coal-fired generation and seaborne thermal coal demand,” said Brock. “Export is another growth story for US coal and exports will increase another 12 mm tonnes this year driven by demand from India. Coal continues to supply resiliency to the grid and a squeeze in natural gas will highlight coal’s importance.”

“We were honored to have Jimmy Brock, CEO, CONSOL Energy, with us this evening,” said Bill Reid, 2018-19 CI-Coal Chairman. “The future of the coal industry is of vital importance to our organization and Jimmy delivered a most interesting and compelling Keynote Address.” Reid handed over the proceedings to Neil Mosley, 2019-20 CI-Coal chairman and wished him well in his year of office. This year’s Spring Meeting was brought to a conclusion.