Derivative Instruments

The Company’s primary market risk exposure is the volatility of future prices for natural gas and NGLs, which can affect the operating results of the Company primarily at EQT Production. The Company’s overall objective in its hedging program is to protect cash flows from undue exposure to the risk of changing commodity prices.

The Company primarily uses over the counter (OTC) derivative commodity instruments, primarily swap, collar and option agreements that are typically placed with financial institutions. The creditworthiness of all counterparties is regularly monitored. Swap agreements involve payments to or receipts from counterparties based on the differential between two prices for the commodity. Collar agreements require the counterparty to pay the Company if the index price falls below the floor price and the Company to pay the counterparty if the index price rises above the cap price. The Company sells call options that require the Company to pay the counterparty if the index price rises above the strike price and purchases call options that require the counterparty to pay the Company if the index price rises above the strike price. The Company engages in basis swaps to protect earnings from undue exposure to the risk of geographic disparities in commodity prices and interest rate swaps to hedge exposure to fluctuations in interest rates. The Company also engages in a limited number of swaptions.

The Company recognizes all derivative instruments as either assets or liabilities at fair value on a gross basis. These derivative instruments are reported as either current assets or current liabilities due to their highly liquid nature. The Company can net settle its derivative instruments at any time.

The Company discontinued cash flow hedge accounting in 2014; therefore, all changes in fair value of the Company’s derivative instruments are recognized within operating revenues in the Statements of Consolidated Operations.

In connection with the Rice Merger, the Company assumed all outstanding derivative commodity instruments held by Rice. The assets and liabilities assumed were recognized at fair value at the closing date and subsequent changes in fair value were recognized within operating revenues in the Statements of Consolidated Operations. The derivative commodity instruments assumed were substantially similar to instruments previously held by the Company.

Contracts which result in physical delivery of a commodity expected to be used or sold by the Company in the normal course of business are designated as normal purchases and sales and are exempt from derivative accounting.

OTC arrangements require settlement in cash. The Company also enters into exchange traded derivative commodity instruments that are generally settled with offsetting positions. Settlements of derivative commodity instruments are reported as a component of cash flows from operations in the accompanying Statements of Condensed Consolidated Cash Flows.

With respect to the derivative commodity instruments held by the Company, the Company hedged portions of expected sales of equity production and portions of its basis exposure covering approximately 3,005 Bcf of natural gas and 2,058 Mbbls of NGLs as of September 30, 2018, and 2,148 Bcf of natural gas and 1,460 Mbbls of NGLs as of December 31, 2017. The open positions at September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017 had maturities extending through December 2024 and December 2022, respectively.

The Company has netting agreements with financial institutions and its brokers that permit net settlement of gross commodity derivative assets against gross commodity derivative liabilities. The table below reflects the impact of netting agreements and margin deposits on gross derivative assets and liabilities as of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017. The margin deposit within the table as of September 30, 2018 represents funds remitted to a broker for exchange traded derivative commodity instruments.



As of September 30, 2018	Derivative instruments, recorded in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet, gross		Derivative instruments subject to master netting agreements			Margin deposits remitted to counterparties			Derivative instruments, net
	(Thousands)
Asset derivatives:
Derivative instruments, at fair value	$	315,564	$	(104,559	)	$	—		$	211,005
Liability derivatives:
Derivative instruments, at fair value	$	183,677	$	(104,559	)	$	(11,110	)	$	68,008



As of December 31, 2017	Derivative instruments, recorded in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet, gross		Derivative instruments subject to master netting agreements			Margin deposits remitted to counterparties		Derivative instruments, net
	(Thousands)
Asset derivatives:
Derivative instruments, at fair value	$	241,952	$	(86,856	)	$	—	$	155,096
Liability derivatives:
Derivative instruments, at fair value	$	139,089	$	(86,856	)	$	—	$	52,233

Certain of the Company’s OTC derivative instrument contracts provide that if the Company’s credit ratings by Standard & Poor’s Rating Service (S&P) or Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s) are lowered below investment grade, additional collateral must be deposited with the counterparty if the amounts outstanding on those contracts exceed certain thresholds. The additional collateral can be up to 100% of the derivative liability. As of September 30, 2018, the aggregate fair value of all derivative instruments with credit risk-related contingent features that were in a net liability position was $109.2 million, for which the Company had no collateral posted on September 30, 2018. If the Company’s credit rating by S&P or Moody’s had been downgraded below investment grade on September 30, 2018, the Company would not have been required to post any additional collateral under the agreements with the respective counterparties. The required margin on the Company’s derivative instruments is subject to significant change as a result of factors other than credit rating, such as gas prices and credit thresholds set forth in agreements between the hedging counterparties and the Company. Investment grade refers to the quality of the Company’s credit as assessed by one or more credit rating agencies. The Company’s senior unsecured debt was rated BBB by S&P and Baa3 by Moody’s at September 30, 2018. In order to be considered investment grade, the Company must be rated BBB- or higher by S&P and Baa3 or higher by Moody’s. Anything below these ratings is considered non-investment grade. See also "Security Ratings and Financing Triggers" under Part I, Item 2, "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations."