NATIONAL FUEL REPORTS 2015 EARNINGS

WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y.: National Fuel Gas Company ('National Fuel' or the 'Company') (NYSE:NFG) today announced consolidated results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended September 30, 2015.

National Fuel had a consolidated loss for the quarter ended September 30, 2015, of

$187.7 million, or $2.22 per share, compared to the prior year's fourth quarter earnings of

$57.4 million, or $0.68 per share, a decrease of $245.1 million, or $2.90 per share. The decrease is largely due to a $240.8 million non-cash charge to writedown the value of Seneca Resources Corporation's ('Seneca') oil and natural gas reserves. Consolidated earnings for the fourth quarter, exclusive of Seneca's writedown and other items impacting comparability ('Operating Results'), were $34.9 million, or $0.41 per share, compared to $50.4 million, or

$0.59 per share, in the prior year's fourth quarter. (Note: All references to earnings per share are to diluted earnings per share, and all amounts used in the discussion of earnings are after tax unless otherwise noted.)

For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2015, National Fuel had a consolidated loss of

$379.4 million, or $4.50 per share, compared to earnings of $299.4 million, or $3.52 per share, from the prior year. The decrease is largely due to $650.2 million of non-cash charges to write down the value of Seneca's oil and natural gas reserves. Excluding Seneca's writedown and the other items impacting comparability, Operating Results for the fiscal year were $252.5 million, or $2.97 per share, compared to $291.8 million, or $3.43 per share, in the prior fiscal year.

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OPERATING RESULTS

(in thousands except per share amounts)

Three Months Ended Fiscal Year Ended September 30, September 30,

2015 2014 2015 2014

Reported GAAP earnings (loss) $ (187,703) $ 57,431 $ (379,427) $ 299,413

1 See discussion of the individual items impacting comparability in segment earnings below.

MANAGEMENT COMMENTS

Ronald J. Tanski, President and Chief Executive Officer of National Fuel Gas Company, stated: 'The continuation of low oil and natural gas commodity prices required us to write down the balance sheet value of our 2.3 trillion cubic feet equivalent of oil and natural gas reserves. This large adjustment distracts from an otherwise solid quarter and fiscal year of operations across all our segments.

'We continued to grow our midstream business, where three more interstate pipeline projects are going into service in November, and we've expanded our gathering pipelines to reach new production locations being developed by Seneca.

'Seneca continues to drive down its drilling and completion costs in its development program and maintain a constant focus on seeking markets for its production.

'Customers of our downstream utility and energy marketing segments continue to benefit from the low prices we are experiencing during this low point in the commodity price cycle.

'Our integrated business model and balance among operations across the natural gas value chain allow us to maintain our operations with a longer term view. We have a strong

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base of assets, a large base of reserves, and the financial strength that will allow us to continue to achieve meaningful growth.'

OPERATIONS UPDATE

Seneca's total fourth quarter fiscal 2015 production was 37.6 billion cubic feet equivalent ('Bcfe'), a decrease of 8.3 Bcfe, or 18 percent, from the prior fiscal year's fourth quarter, and an increase of 1.4 Bcfe, or 4 percent, versus the third quarter of fiscal 2015. Natural gas and crude oil production for the quarter was 33.0 billion cubic feet ('Bcf') and 778 thousand barrels ('Bbls'), respectively. As a result of persistently low local spot prices in the Appalachian basin, Seneca voluntarily curtailed approximately 13.0 Bcf of natural gas production during the quarter. Absent price-related curtailments, Seneca's fourth quarter fiscal 2015 natural gas production would have been approximately 46.0 Bcf, or nearly 500 million cubic feet ('MMcf') per day.

During fiscal year 2015, Seneca replaced 373 percent of production to reach a total of

2.344 trillion cubic feet equivalent ('Tcfe') of proved crude oil and natural gas reserves as of September 30, 2015. Seneca's continued success through the drill bit in the Marcellus and Utica shales led to a 459 Bcf, or 27 percent increase in natural gas reserves, which totaled

2.142 Tcf at fiscal year end. Crude oil reserves, which decreased by 12 percent largely due to production, totaled 33.7 million Bbls at September 30, 2015. Consolidated finding and development costs for the year were $0.96 per thousand cubic feet equivalent ('Mcfe'), down from fiscal 2014's $1.15 per Mcfe. In the Marcellus Shale, Seneca's finding and development costs in fiscal 2015 were $0.79 per Mcf, down from $1.00 per Mcf in fiscal 2014.

Seneca's average realized natural gas price, after the impact of hedging, for the fourth quarter was $3.35 per Mcf, reflecting $1.11 per Mcf of uplift from financial hedges settled during the quarter. Seneca continued to strengthen and protect its future cash flows during the fourth quarter, adding approximately 6 Bcf of fixed-price physical natural gas sales and 156 thousand barrels ('MBbl') of NYMEX oil swaps to its hedge book for fiscal 2016. Seneca's fiscal 2016 natural gas production is now 67 percent hedged at the midpoint of production guidance, with 119.9 Bcf of gas production locked-in at an average net realized price of $3.45 per Mcf. In California, Seneca's fiscal 2016 oil production is now 48 percent hedged at an average hedge price of $88.24 per Bbl.

As of November 1, 2015, National Fuel's Pipeline and Storage segment had placed the Westside Expansion & Modernization and Tuscarora Lateral projects into service. The Westside Expansion & Modernization project along National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation's Line N corridor was built on budget at a total capital cost of $86 million and will transport 175,000 Dth per day of natural gas for producers, including Seneca. The Tuscarora Lateral, a project designed to sell storage services for the first time to utility customers along National Fuel's Empire Pipeline, also came in on budget at a capital cost of $58.5 million and added an incremental 49,000 Dth per day of transportation capacity. Combined, these two projects will generate approximately $20 million in incremental annual demand revenues.

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National Fuel is also nearing completion of compression facilities for the Northern Access 2015 expansion project, a joint project with Tennessee Gas Pipeline's Niagara Expansion. The Northern Access 2015 project provides capacity to transport 140,000 Dth per day of Seneca's WDA production from a TGP interconnect with National Fuel's Clermont Gathering System to the Canadian border at Niagara. National Fuel began service on 40,000 Dth per day of capacity on November 1, 2015, and expects the remaining 100,000 Dth per day to go in-service by December 1, 2015. At an estimated capital cost of $67.5 million, Northern Access 2015 will generate approximately $13 million in annual demand revenues for National Fuel's Pipeline and Storage segment.

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS BY SEGMENT

The following discussion of the earnings of each segment is summarized in a tabular form at pages 11 through 14 of this report. It may be helpful to refer to those tables while reviewing this discussion.

Upstream Business

Exploration and Production Segment

The Exploration and Production segment operations are carried out by Seneca Resources Corporation ('Seneca'). Seneca explores for, develops and produces natural gas and oil reserves, primarily in Pennsylvania and California.

The Exploration and Production segment's loss in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 of

$207.0 million, or $2.45 per share, compares to earnings of $33.7 million, or $0.40 per share, in the prior year's fourth quarter, a decrease of $240.7 million or $2.85 per share. The decrease was mainly due to a non-cash charge of $240.8 million to write down the value of Seneca's oil and natural gas reserves.

Seneca uses the full cost method of accounting for determining the book value of its oil and natural gas properties. This accounting method requires that Seneca perform a quarterly 'ceiling test' to compare the present value of future revenues from its oil and natural gas reserves based on an unweighted arithmetic average of the first day of the month oil and gas prices for each month within the 12-month period prior to the end of the reporting period ('the ceiling') with the book value of those reserves at the balance sheet date. If the book value of the reserves exceeds the ceiling, a non-cash impairment charge must be recorded in order to reduce the book value of the reserves to the calculated ceiling. Unless oil and gas prices improve significantly, Seneca expects one or more additional impairment charges for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016.

In the fourth quarter of both fiscal 2015 and 2014, Seneca reduced its deferred income tax liability $13.2 million and $7.0 million, respectively. The adjustment was largely due to an anticipated increase in firm transportation of natural gas to Canadian delivery points, which decreased the effective tax rate used in the calculation of deferred tax expense. Also, as a result of the Company's net loss in fiscal 2015, Seneca reversed $1.8 million of long- term, performance-based executive stock compensation in the current year's fourth quarter.

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