CONSOL Energy history

In 1935 Germany parceled out its power market to major firms and granted RWE a virtual monopoly on electricity.

In 1945, Consolidation Coal Company was merged with Pittsburgh Coal Company and its headquarters were moved to Western Pennsylvania.

With growing demand for natural gas in the United States following World War II, Consolidation Coal Company was acquired by the Continental Oil Company, or Conoco, in 1966.

In 1981, Conoco along with Consolidation Coal Company was acquired by DuPont, which then sold some of its coal mining interests in Pennsylvania to the German energy company, Rheinbraun A.G.

DuPont, which split Conoco's oil and coal assets into separate subsidiaries, then sold some Pennsylvania mining interests to RWE. By the autumn of 1990 rumors were reported in the press that indicated RWE through its Rheinbraun subsidiary was interested in acquiring as much as half of Consol.

Looking to invest in coal reserves in North America, Rheinbraun A.G offered Dupont stakes in coal mines and $890 million in 1991 to join in an equal part joint venture creating Consol Energy.

Consol also acquired Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company in 1998.

In 1999, Consol underwent a public offering (NYSE: CNX) in order to pay down some of the debt the company had incurred with the majority buy-out from Dupont and the acquisition of Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company.

Because of pressure from shareholders urging increased profits, as well as to maintain competitiveness in the volatile coal industry, CONSOL took steps in early 2000 to cut costs by offering buyout packages to more than 1,000 employees in its headquarters, regional offices, and R&D facility.

The thrust of the methane gas business is summarized in a 2002 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette profile of the company: "Before mining, companies drill vertical wells into coal seams as a safety precaution.

In June 2003 RWE indicated that it was interested in selling some if not all of its stake in CONSOL, estimated to be worth about $1.25 billion.

On June 28, 2006,Consol Energy entered the S&P 500 replacing Knight-Ridder.

In 2007, CNX Gas also began investing heavily in natural gas exploration in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania.

In 2010, Consol acquired Dominion Resources Inc.'s natural gas production and exploration assets for 3.74 billion dollars, which included nearly 500,000 acres of Marcellus potential, tripling Consol's position in the Marcellus to approximately 750,000 acres.

Consol also began an expansion of its Baltimore Terminal in 2011 to increase capacity from 14 million to 16 million tons to increase its revenue from sales of its metallurgical coal.

Consol has begun to inject CO2 into geologic formations which is being practiced in 2012 in the petroleum industry.

In 2017, Consol Energy Inc. spun off from CNX Resources Group.