traded as nyse rrc s & p 500 component industry petroleum industry founded 1976 headquarters fort worth texas united states key people john h. pinkerton chairman and ceo jeffrey l. ventura president and coo chad l. stephens vice president ray walker vice president matt pitzarella spokesman 1 products petroleum natural gas revenue us 1.598 billion 2015 1 operating income us 713.685 million 2015 1 net income us 713.685 million 2015 1 total assets us 6.900 billion 2015 1 total equity us 2.759 billion 2015 1 number of employees 744 2015 1 website www.rangeresources.com range resources corporation is a petroleum and natural gas exploration and production company headquartered in fort worth texas . contents 1 current operations 2 history 3 controversies 3.1 environmental record 3.1.1 chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing 3.1.2 water and air pollution in washington county pennsylvania 3.1.3 contamination of water in parker county texas 3.2 public relations campaign regarding zoning 3.3 use of former military personnel 3.4 public relations campaign regarding benefits of drilling to landowners 3.5 litigation and settlements 3.5.1 litigation regarding property damage in pennsylvania 3.5.2 litigation regarding royalty under payments 4 see also 5 references 6 external links current operations edit as of december 31 2015 the company had 9.872 trillion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent of estimated proved reserves of which 64 % was natural gas 33 % was natural gas liquids and 3 % was petroleum . 1 approximately 97 % of total proved reserves and 95 % of 2015 production was in the marcellus formation . 1 in 2014 the company was the 3rd largest producer in the marcellus formation 2 in 2015 the company s total production was 1.395 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent . 1 history edit range resources traces its roots to lomak petroleum its predecessor company which was founded in 1976 and based in hartville ohio . the company drilled wells in eastern ohio . 3 in 1992 it moved its headquarters to fort worth texas and merged in 1998 with domain energy corp. 3 in 1997 range acquired american cometra for 385 million which owned properties in the permian basin . 3 in 1999 the company formed a 50 50 joint venture with firstenergy called great lakes energy partners llc to own properties in the appalachian basin . in 2004 range resources bought the 50 % interest in the venture that it did not own for 290 million including the assumption of debt . 4 before its major expansion into the marcellus shale range resources only held a small position in the texas barnett shale and 9000 worn out gas wells across the appalachian basin that had been producing for 25 years . however geologist william zagorski who worked for the company used the knowledge of fracking gained working in the barnett shale pioneered in the region by mitchell energy & development to attempt fracking in appalachia where according to ventura it worked on the first try . 5 in 2004 the company began operations in the marcellus shale in pennsylvania . 1 in 2005 the company built horizontal test wells in mount pleasant township washington county pennsylvania and began production in the marcellus shale and in 2007 the company spent 200 million to acquire additional land nearby . 5 in 2006 the company acquired stroud energy and its major position in the barnett shale for 450 million . 6 in 2010 forbes magazine called range resources king of the marcellus shale . the company had spent less than 1 000 per acre on average to acquire land suitable for drilling compared to larger traditional oil and gas players who joined the exploration rush late in the game who had paid as much as 14 000 an acre . 5 in 2014 the company exchanged its assets in the permian basin for assets in the nora field in virginia plus 145 million in cash . 7 in 2015 the company sold its assets in the nora field in virginia to enervest for 875 million . 8 controversies edit environmental record edit chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing edit range resources said it would list chemicals used in its hydraulic fracturing on its website giving regulators and landowners an account of the chemicals injected into each well . the list includes the volume concentration and purpose of the chemicals . 9 however court documents show that range resources does not know the makeup of the products it uses to extract natural gas from shale . 10 hydraulic fracturing critics list range resources wells and violations at fracktrack 11 water and air pollution in washington county pennsylvania edit this american life and the new york times investigated the company s operations in amwell township and mount pleasant township washington county pennsylvania . journalists eliza griswold and sarah koenig found allegations that gas wells owned by range resources caused water pollution and air pollution . residents complained of black running water that corroded faucets and household machinery showers smelling of rotten eggs hydrogen sulfide and diarrhea mysterious stomach pains extreme fatigue or anemia . medical tests of residents complaining of headaches nosebleeds and the inability to concentrate showed elevated blood levels of organic solvents and heavy metals such as toluene and arsenic . when presented with such complaints range resources argued that its labs test results show that complaints of illness and dying animals were not caused by its activities and instead had other causes . 12 13 according to a letter from range resources to a complainant dated january 14 2011 on november 10 2010 you voluntarily supplied range resources with lab results from both your dog and horse veterinarians . upon review of these results range contacted the canine and equine veterinarians . i t was stated by the veterinarian that the test results were inconclusive for anti freeze ethylene glycol poising . the veterinarian indicated that the horse had toxicity of the liver which he felt was not related to ethylene glycol poisoning . 14 one resident in amwell township was riding her horse behind range resources pond for holding fracking chemical flowback when she noticed a hissing and bubbling sound in the stream and a red foamy oil slick that caused the stream to exhibit rainbow water . range maintained that it was likely caused by decayed vegetation that gave off gas having attributed previous complaints of malodor to harmless anaerobic bacteria that grew near its fluid compressor stations . however chemical tests of the area later revealed the presence of acetone toluene benzene phenol arsenic barium heavy metals and methane . 13 range resources then paid to have a water well drilled for the landowner which the owner said also was contaminated . according to a letter dated october 19 2011 the pennsylvania department of environmental protection tested the landowner s well water twice and found no contamination in the water . 15 range resources paid 219 875 in fines to the commonwealth of pennsylvania as of may 2010 . the bulk was 141 175 levied for a fracking fluid spill that killed aquatic life in brush creek in washington county pennsylvania which is protected by the state as a high quality waterway according to the pittsburgh business times . however ray walker vice president said that range resources has made a lot of adjustments since then . the fluid spill was due to a faulty elbow pipe ; according to walker range has since gone to a completely different pipe manufacturer and a completely different pipe design . firings and changed procedures also followed the incident . in september 2014 range resources was ordered to pay a 4.15 million penalty to settle violations related to six marcellus shale gas drilling and fracking wastewater impoundments in washington county that contaminated soil and groundwater . 16 contamination of water in parker county texas edit in 2010 the environmental protection agency issued an emergency order against range stating that the company s drilling activities in parker county texas had led to the contamination of at least two residential drinking water wells . the company denied the allegations and said the presence of methane was a result of naturally occurring migration and had shown up in nearby water wells long before range drilled its gas wells . the environmental protection agency epa said that natural gas drilling by the company has contributed to the contamination of at least two residential drinking water wells in the county and ordered it to step in immediately . based on our findings to date it s very clear that our activities have not had any impact on the water aquifer in southern parker county or the subject water wells range resources said in a statement . the company said its investigations revealed that methane in the aquifer existed long before its drilling and likely is a naturally occurring migration from several shallow gas zones immediately below the water aquifer . 17 18 however after a hearing in 2011 texas railroad commission staff concluded that based on chemical composition the gas in the water wells came from the shallow strawn formation rather than the deeper barnett shale in which the range wells were completed . they also concluded that pressure tests by range showed mechanical integrity of the casing . epa and the two homeowners were invited to present evidence at the hearing but did not . 19 in march 2012 the epa dropped its order against range . 20 range resources said the move could help its 4.2 million defamation lawsuit against a parker county couple who alleged in a 6.5 million lawsuit that range contaminated their drinking water . 20 in december 2013 the federal office of the inspector general addressing complaints by six us senators issued a report concluding that the epa had been justified in issuing its 2010 emergency order and had acted reasonably in withdrawing the order after range had agreed to groundwater quality monitoring . 21 public relations campaign regarding zoning edit range resources has sponsored public relations campaigns supporting permitted use zoning regulations rather than conditional use zoning which would provide for case by case hearings for citizen review of range s drilling near their land or neighborhoods . according to npr mount pleasant and its three citizen supervisors were ridiculously outmanned ... in an ensuing full scale pr war with range resources when the supervisors decided to follow conditional use zoning policy used in other states such as texas colorado and wyoming . through letters to lessors range wrote that it might stop drilling in the township if the township enacted conditional use zoning . other townships that enacted conditional use zoning have been sued by range resources . 12 use of former military personnel edit on november 8 2011 cnbc reported on a conference which range resources attended in which those in the energy industry were advised to download the us army marine corps counterinsurgency manual because we are dealing with an insurgency . in the conference range resources spokesman matt pitzarella also said that range had several former psy ops folks ... who are very comfortable in dealing with localized issues and local governments . really all they do is spend most of their time helping folks develop local ordinances and things like that . but very much having that understanding of psy ops in the army and in the middle east has applied very helpfully here for us in pennsylvania . 22 pitzarella later clarified that he meant to refer to one employee of the firm whose psy ops background made him adept at handling emotionally charged township meetings . however sharon wilson the recorder of the remarks said the comments reveal what the fracking industry thinks about people in the communities that are impacted by the industry . 22 public relations campaign regarding benefits of drilling to landowners edit in 2011 as part of an effort to reassure the public of its activities range resources started a campaign my