Consol Energy became the latest coal company to announce that it would cut back on production due to changing economic conditions.

In a news release issued on Feb. 28, Consol announced that it would reduce its continuous mining schedule and idle a longwall mining unit at the Blacksville No. 2 longwall mining unit in northern West Virginia. The longwall will be shut down and the continuous miner will now only run four days per week, the company said. There will be no layoffs as a result of the decision, but overtime and non-essential work "may be postponed" until normal operation resumes.

“In 2011, the Blacksville No. 2 Mine produced 3.9 Mt (4.3 million st) of coal utilizing a single longwall and three continuous mining units," the release states. "It is not known how long the Blacksville No. 2 longwall mining operations will be idled, however Consol expects monthly production to be reduced by approximately 363 kt/m (400,000 stpm) for as long as the mine operates on this reduced schedule.”

The longwall operation at Blacksville No. 2 had previously been suspended last summer. The mine has 585 total employees.

The explanation from Consol is similar to that of other coal companies recently announcing they would be slowing production, such as Alpha Natural Resources and Patriot Coal. Market conditions, including mild winters and low natural gas prices, are changing the economics of today’s energy market and reducing the demand for coal.

Patriot Coal announced early February that it would idle a Boone County Mine complex at the same time it announced a fourth-quarter loss. Also in early February, Alpha Natural Resources announced 10 mining operations, including six in West Virginia, would be affected by the decision to reduce annual coal production by 3.6 Mt (4 million st).