Chesapeake To Slow Land Buying, Sell Assets In 2011 - Executive
January 05 2011 - 3:32PM
Dow Jones News
Chesapeake Energy Corp.(CHK) plans to slow spending on land in
2011 while raising cash through joint ventures and a sale of
pipeline assets to a subsidiary, a company executive told investors
on Wednesday.
The Oklahoma City company spent about $5 billion on
energy-producing properties in 2010 as it scrambled to stake out
positions in lucrative oil-producing shale formations, John
Kilgallon said during a webcast presentation to investors.
"We think the gas land grab is certainly long gone and we think
the liquids land grab is largely over in the first half of 2011,"
said Kilgallon, who is investor relations and research manager.
"You're going to see a dramatic reduction in spending."
Analysts and investors sometimes criticize Chesapeake as
spending too freely on oil and gas leases. But company officials
argue that they have historically been able to recoup those outlays
by selling minority stakes in the properties, such as Chesapeake
did when Cnooc Ltd. (CEO) paid $2.16 billion in October for a
one-third interest in its south Texas oil fields.
Chesapeake says its joint-venture sales amounted to $4.4 billion
in 2010.
Kilgallon said Chesapeake plans soon to announce a new joint
venture that will be similar to the Cnooc pact on its acreage in
the Niobrara shale formation, which spreads over parts of Colorado,
Wyoming, Nebraska and Kansas. And it anticipates making a separate
deal to sell a stake in an unnamed shale play that includes more
than one million acres, Kilgallon said.
Chesapeake will also likely sell assets to Chesapeake Midstream
Partners LP (CHKM) in a deal similar to last month's $500 million
drop-down of Louisiana pipelines to the subsidiary, Kilgallon
said.
"You're going to see much more cash that is flowing into the
company along with the reduced leasehold spending," he said.
Shares of Chesapeake traded up 28 cents, or 1.1%, at $26.50 on
Wednesday.
-By Ryan Dezember, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-547-9208;
ryan.dezember@dowjones.com
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