CONSOL Energy Purchases River Transport Group
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PITTSBURGH, Oct. 5 -- CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE:CNX) has acquired Tri-River Fleeting Harbor Services, Inc., and Tri-River Marine, Inc.
Terms of the purchase were not disclosed, and the deal was closed on October 3. With the arrangement, CONSOL Energy acquires control of eight towboats that operate along the Monongahela and Ohio rivers.
"The addition of eight additional vessels through this acquisition will increase our efficiency and expand our fleeting services for our traditional customers along the Upper Ohio River System," said James C. Grech, senior vice president - CONSOL Energy Sales Company. "It will also enable CONSOL to take advantage of Tri-River's current market of transporting aggregates and materials other than coal to a new customer base.
"CONSOL Energy's more than 125 years of experience along the inland rivers dovetails nicely with the successful operations of Tri-River's assets, especially when you include our purchase of Mon River and J.A.R. assets from the Guttman Group in 2006."
With the Tri-River acquisition, CONSOL Energy adds 60 new employees and increases its fleet of towboats to 27 vessels. With the purchase, no additional barges were added to CONSOL's current fleet of 650 barges.
"One synergy evident with the purchase is that Tri-River has experience transporting limestone used for scrubbers at power plants burning coal to generate electricity," said Grech. "As more such scrubber units come online in the next few years, that experience will be beneficial to CONSOL in terms of our existing and new markets."
During 2006, CONSOL Energy, through its river operations, transported 24.5 million tons of coal and other commodities, including 11.1 million tons of coal produced by company mines, to various customers, making CONSOL Energy a significant shipper along the inland waterways in southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia.
CONSOL Energy Inc., a high-Btu bituminous coal and coal bed methane company, is a member of the Standard & Poor's 500 Equity Index and has annual revenues of $3.7 billion. It has 20 bituminous coal mining complexes in six states and reports proven and probable coal reserves of 4.5 billion tons. In addition, the company is a majority shareholder in one of the largest U.S. producers of coalbed methane gas, CNX Gas Corporation. CONSOL Energy was named one of America's most admired companies in 2005 by Fortune magazine. It received the U.S. Department of the Interior's Office of Surface Mining National Award for Excellence in Surface Mining for the company's innovative reclamation practices in 2002, 2003 and 2004.
Also in 2003, the company was listed in Information Week magazine's "Information Week 500" list for its information technology operations. In 2002, the company received a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Climate Protection Award. Additional information about the company can be found at its web site: http://www.consolenergy.com/.
Source: CONSOL Energy Inc.
CONTACT: Joseph A. Cerenzia of CONSOL Energy Inc., +1-412-831-4062
Web site: http://www.consolenergy.com/
