TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – US-based fossil energy producer Consol Energy on Wednesday said that it had chosen Chesapeake Energy executive Timothy Dugan as the new COO for its exploration and production (E&P) division.

At Chesapeake, Dugan most recently served as VP of the Appalachia South business unit. Since 2009, he had directed Chesapeake’s operations in the Marcellus and Utica shales, and recently added oversight of geology, drilling, completions and reservoir planning.

"This hire represents a critical step in implementing the growth strategy we have embarked upon,” Consol president Nick DeIuliis said.

NYSE-listed Consol on Tuesday said it planned to spend about $1.5-billion this year to lift its rate of natural-gas production.

Consol chairperson and CEO Brett Harvey said the group planned to put about $1-billion of the proceeds from selling some noncore coal assets late last year toward its capital-spending budget.

During the first nine months of 2013, Consol's capital expenditures (capex) totalled about $1.2-billion, up 3.8% from the same period a year earlier. This compared with the company's total capex of $1.58-billion in 2012.

Consol late last year entered into a “transformative” $3.5-billion deal through which it  sold five West Virginia thermal coal mines to closely held Murray Energy, one of the biggest transactions in recent years in the coal sector.

Consol had previously said the mines sold included some of its oldest and most expensive operations, and that it would keep its cheaper coal mines in Pennsylvania and Virginia, while it was positioning to take advantage of the booming US natural gas market.

About $1.1-billion of the capital-spending programme would be aimed at its gas operations, with much of that being funnelled toward its Marcellus and Utica shale drilling and completion costs. About half of drilling spend will target liquids-rich areas.

Consol repeated its 2014 natural-gas production growth target of 30%.

Consol’s NYSE-listed stock rose $0.71 a share on Wednesday to $38.89 apiece.