<SEC-DOCUMENT>0001193125-16-731625.txt : 20170901
<SEC-HEADER>0001193125-16-731625.hdr.sgml : 20170901
<ACCEPTANCE-DATETIME>20161005171202
<PRIVATE-TO-PUBLIC>
ACCESSION NUMBER:		0001193125-16-731625
CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE:	CORRESP
PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT:		1
FILED AS OF DATE:		20161005

FILER:

	COMPANY DATA:	
		COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:			CABOT OIL & GAS CORP
		CENTRAL INDEX KEY:			0000858470
		STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION:	CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS [1311]
		IRS NUMBER:				043072771
		STATE OF INCORPORATION:			DE
		FISCAL YEAR END:			1231

	FILING VALUES:
		FORM TYPE:		CORRESP

	BUSINESS ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		840 GESSNER ROAD, SUITE 1400
		CITY:			HOUSTON
		STATE:			TX
		ZIP:			77024
		BUSINESS PHONE:		2815894600

	MAIL ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		840 GESSNER ROAD, SUITE 1400
		CITY:			HOUSTON
		STATE:			TX
		ZIP:			77024
</SEC-HEADER>
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<TYPE>CORRESP
<SEQUENCE>1
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 <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman" ALIGN="right">October&nbsp;5, 2016 </P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">Mr.&nbsp;Brad Skinner </P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">Senior Assistant Chief Accountant </P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">Office of Natural Resources </P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">United States Securities and
Exchange Commission </P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">Division of Corporation Finance </P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">100 F
Street, N.E. </P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">Mail Stop 7010 </P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">Washington, D.C. 20549 </P>
<P STYLE="font-size:12pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">&nbsp;</P>
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<TD WIDTH="4%">&nbsp;</TD>
<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left">Re:</TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">Cabot Oil&nbsp;&amp; Gas Corporation </TD></TR></TABLE>
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<TD WIDTH="4%">&nbsp;</TD>
<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended December&nbsp;31, 2015 </TD></TR></TABLE>
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<TD WIDTH="4%">&nbsp;</TD>
<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">Filed February&nbsp;22, 2016 </TD></TR></TABLE>
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<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">File No.&nbsp;1-10447 </TD></TR></TABLE> <P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">Dear Mr.&nbsp;Skinner: </P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:6pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:4%; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">We are responding to comments received from the Staff of the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission by
letter dated September&nbsp;15, 2016 regarding our 2015 Form 10-K. For your convenience, our responses are prefaced by the Staff&#146;s corresponding comment in italicized text. With respect to the Staff&#146;s comments, we propose to include
revised disclosures in our future filings under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as indicated below. </P> <P STYLE="margin-top:18pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman"><B><U>Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended
December&nbsp;31, 2015 </U></B></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:6pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman"><B><U>Business and Properties, page 7 </U></B></P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:6pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman"><B><U>Proved Undeveloped Reserves, page 11 </U></B></P> <P STYLE="font-size:6pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">&nbsp;</P>
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<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left">1.</TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"><I>The discussion provided on page 11 indicates you expect to develop approximately 60% to 70% of your PUD reserves over the next three years, of which 937.4 Bcfe have been drilled and are waiting on completion. Please
clarify for us and expand your disclosure to explain why it appears that you have intentionally deferred completion of such wells.</I> </TD></TR></TABLE>
<P STYLE="margin-top:18pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman"><U>Response </U></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:6pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:4%; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">We note that at each year end
we exit the period with a certain number of wells that have been drilled but remain uncompleted (DUC) that are classified as proved undeveloped (PUD) in accordance with Rule 4-10 (a)(31) of Regulation S-X due to the fact that additional major
capital expenditures are required to complete the well. In accordance with our 2016 capital program, by the end of 2016 we expect to have completed and converted over 89% of our PUD reserves associated with our 2015 DUC inventory to developed
status, with the remainder being completed in early 2017. As a result of a decrease in capital spending, the pace of our </P>

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completion activities also decreased which resulted in a DUC well backlog as we exited 2015; however, we did not consider this backlog to be unusual as we had plans to complete these wells within
a relatively short period of time of being drilled. </P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:4%; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">In response to the Staff&#146;s comment, in future filings we will provide additional
disclosure as to when we expect to complete our DUC inventory. For 2015, such disclosure under the heading &#147;Proved Undeveloped Reserves&#148; on page 11 of our 2015 Form 10-K would have read substantially as follows: </P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:18pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman"><B><I>Proved Undeveloped Reserves </I></B></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:6pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:4%; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">At
December&nbsp;31, 2015 we had 3,361.2 Bcfe of proved undeveloped (PUD) reserves associated with future development costs of $1.6&nbsp;billion, which represents an increase of 462.9 Bcfe compared to December&nbsp;31, 2014. We expect to develop
approximately 60% to 70% of our PUD reserves over the next three years, of which 937.4 Bcfe<U> are </U><STRIKE>have been</STRIKE> drilled <U>but uncompleted (DUC)</U><STRIKE> and are waiting on completion</STRIKE>. <U>We expect to complete
approximately 89% of our PUD reserves associated with our DUC wells by the end of 2016 and the remaining 11% in early 2017. </U>Future development plans are reflective of the significant decrease in commodity prices and have been established based
on an expectation of available cash flows from operations and availability under our revolving credit facility. As of December&nbsp;31, 2015, all PUD reserves are expected to be developed within five years of initial disclosure of these reserves.
</P> <P STYLE="font-size:12pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">&nbsp;</P>
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<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left">2.</TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"><I>You also state that your future development plans are reflective of the significant decrease in commodity prices. Please advise or expand your disclosure to clarify the extent to which the completion of any of your
drilled but uncompleted wells awaits an improvement in current commodity prices.</I> </TD></TR></TABLE> <P STYLE="margin-top:18pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman"><U>Response </U></P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:6pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:4%; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">We note that none of our DUC inventory will be deferred until commodity prices improve. We are actively completing wells as part of our 2016
capital program and expect to have completed and converted over 89% of our PUD reserves associated with our 2015 DUC inventory by the end of 2016, with the remainder being completed in early 2017. </P>
<P STYLE="font-size:12pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">&nbsp;</P>
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<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left">3.</TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"><I>Also clarify for us, if true, that the PUD reserves attributable to drilled wells that are waiting on completion are part of an adopted development plan and schedule as set forth in the definition of undeveloped
reserves under Rule 4-10(a)(31)(ii) of Regulation S-X. To the extent that any of these reserves will take more than five years to convert to developed status since initially disclosed as proved undeveloped reserves, please refer to the answer to
question 131.03 in the Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations (C&amp;DIs), and describe for us the specific circumstances that you believe justify an extended period of time.</I> </TD></TR></TABLE>

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 <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman"><U>Response </U></P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:6pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:4%; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">We note that all of our DUC wells are part of an adopted development plan as set forth in the definition of undeveloped reserves under Rule
4-10(a)(31)(ii) of Regulation S-X. All DUC wells were drilled within the five year development window and as noted in our response to comments one and two above, we are actively completing these wells as part of our 2016 capital program and expect
to have completed and converted over 89% of our PUD reserves associated with our 2015 DUC inventory by the end of 2016, with the remainder being completed in early 2017. </P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:18pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman"><B><U>Exhibit 99.1 </U></B></P> <P STYLE="font-size:6pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">&nbsp;</P>
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<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left">4.</TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"><I>We note the discussion provided on page 3 explains that the Company deemed the portion of the costs related to Company owned facilities and associated with the Company&#146;s revenue interest gas as costs to be
included in the computation of the future net revenues attributable to proved reserves. Please tell us if the computation relating to your proved reserves includes revenues or other adjustments, including offsets to your costs, related to the
gathering or transmission of natural gas other than that in which the Company has a direct ownership.</I> </TD></TR></TABLE> <P STYLE="margin-top:18pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman"><U>Response </U></P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:6pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:4%; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">The computation of our future net cash flows associated with our proved reserves does not include revenues or other adjustments to offset costs
related to gathering and transmission facilities for which we have a direct or indirect ownership interest or that are owned by third parties. </P>

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 <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman" ALIGN="center">****** </P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:4%; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">Cabot hereby acknowledges that: </P> <P STYLE="font-size:6pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">&nbsp;</P>
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<TD WIDTH="5%">&nbsp;</TD>
<TD WIDTH="2%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left">&#149;</TD>
<TD WIDTH="1%" VALIGN="top">&nbsp;</TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">Cabot is responsible for the adequacy and accuracy of the disclosure in the filing; </TD></TR></TABLE> <P STYLE="font-size:6pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">&nbsp;</P>
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<TD WIDTH="5%">&nbsp;</TD>
<TD WIDTH="2%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left">&#149;</TD>
<TD WIDTH="1%" VALIGN="top">&nbsp;</TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">Staff comments or changes to disclosure in response to Staff comments do not foreclose the Commission from taking any action with respect to the filing; and </TD></TR></TABLE>
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<TD WIDTH="5%">&nbsp;</TD>
<TD WIDTH="2%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left">&#149;</TD>
<TD WIDTH="1%" VALIGN="top">&nbsp;</TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">Cabot may not assert Staff comments as a defense in any proceeding initiated by the Commission or any person under the federal securities laws of the United States. </TD></TR></TABLE>
<P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:4%; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">If you have any questions or require additional information, you may contact Scott C. Schroeder at (281)&nbsp;589-4993 or the undersigned at
(281)&nbsp;589-4848. </P> <P STYLE="font-size:12pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">&nbsp;</P><DIV ALIGN="right">
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<TD VALIGN="top">Sincerely,</TD></TR>
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<TD VALIGN="top" STYLE="BORDER-BOTTOM:1px solid #000000">/s/ Todd M. Roemer</TD></TR>
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<TD VALIGN="bottom">Todd M. Roemer</TD></TR>
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<TD VALIGN="bottom">Principal Accounting Officer Controller</TD></TR>
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<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left">cc:</TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">Mr.&nbsp;John Hodgin, United States Securities and Exchange Commission </TD></TR></TABLE>
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<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">Mr.&nbsp;Scott&nbsp;C. Schroeder, Cabot Oil&nbsp;&amp; Gas Corporation </TD></TR></TABLE>
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<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">Ms.&nbsp;Deidre&nbsp;L. Shearer, Cabot Oil&nbsp;&amp; Gas Corporation </TD></TR></TABLE>
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<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">Mr.&nbsp;J. David Kirkland, Jr., Baker Botts L.L.P. </TD></TR></TABLE>
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<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">Mr.&nbsp;Andrew&nbsp;J. Ericksen, Baker Botts L.L.P. </TD></TR></TABLE>
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<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">Mr.&nbsp;Douglas&nbsp;T. Parker, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP </TD></TR></TABLE>
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