Gas exploration firm buys land in Uniontown to house new headquarters
Atlas Energy Resources LLC on Friday bought 12.5 acres of land in the Fayette Business Park, moving it closer to its natural gas exploration operations in Fayette and Greene counties.
Atlas, a Moon-based oil and natural gas exploration and production company, spent $350,000 to buy the property from the Fayette Industrial Fund. The company plans to build a 24,000-square-foot district headquarters facility in the Fayette Business Park along Route 43 in Georges Township, about six miles southwest of Uniontown.
"We're aggressively growing our position in Fayette County," said Brian Begley, director of investor relations for Atlas Energy, which drills for and produces natural gas and oil in the Appalachian Basin, known for its high yield of gas and oil that requires little or no processing.
About 110 workers initially will work out of the new headquarters, with the potential to grow to 160 in a few years, according to the Fay-Penn Economic Development Council, the nonprofit agency charged with adding employment opportunities in Fayette County.
"They've hired a lot over the last 12 months, and they had been looking at putting in a district headquarters to service their area," said Michael W. Krajovic, CEO of Fay-Penn.
Begley described Fayette County as the "anchor" for drilling and exploration efforts in the Marcellus shale formation, which spans much of Western Pennsylvania and is estimated to have 600 million to 1 billion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas reserves.
Atlas Resources has conducted administrative functions out of several branch offices scattered throughout the county. "This is a way for them to consolidate, and this fits in with their model for being close to their drilling operations," said Bob Garrett, president of the Fayette Industrial Fund, a sister organization of the Fay-Penn.
Begley said Atlas Energy Resources is nearly completed with the move of its corporate headquarters on 311 Rouser Road in Moon to its new location in the West Pointe Corporate office complex, which is also in Moon. He said the company expects to complete the move by July 6.
Yesterday, Atlas Energy said it completed its previously announced $1.3 billion acquisition of DTE Gas & Oil Co. The deal quadruples Atlas Energy's proven reserves to nearly 800 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalents, and triples daily production to about 88 million cubic feet. DTE Gas owns interests in some 2,150 natural gas wells in Michigan.
Atlas America Inc. owns 80 percent of common units and all Class A interests in Atlas Resources.
