His formation of the natural gas exploration and production company coincided with the rise of extraction methods such as hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. The techniques enabled companies to access little-tapped oil and gas resources in shale rock, such as the Marcellus formation in Pennsylvania and the Utica formation in Ohio.
The increase of domestic gas production has led benchmark natural gas Henry Hub prices to fall to about $6 from more than $8 per million cubic feet in 2007. In the nine months ended Sept. 30, Rice Energy had $123.7 million in revenue and lost $7.8 million, according to the filings.
Rice began serving last year as the primary portfolio manager for energy sector strategies at GRT Capital Partners LLC in Boston, a hedge fund company with about $885 million in assets under management, according to Amanda Kuhl, a company spokeswoman.
Mitigating Conflicts
Daniel Neumann, who assisted Rice in managing five energy funds at BlackRock and took over the Energy & Resources Portfolio as co-manager in 2012, has been employed by GRT Capital since September, according to GRT’s website.
In its Form ADV amended with the SEC in January, GRT disclosed that Rice has a potential conflict of interest managing GRT funds.
“Mr. Rice and the Investment Manager take steps that they reasonably believe mitigate against any conflicts that may arise as a result of Mr. Rice’s involvement with Rice Energy Inc.,” the company said in the filing.
A Rice Energy subsidiary yesterday bought assets in eastern Washington and Green Counties, Pennsylvania, from M3 Appalachia Gathering LLC, a subsidiary of Houston-based M3 Midstream LLC, for $110 million in cash.