Chesapeake announced that it was cutting its drilling budget so much, that its rigs would be idling at levels not seen since 2002.
On continued bad news from the market, the price of Chesapeake's primary product, natural gas, reached a seven year low.
Chesapeake announced that it might issue 50 million new shares, and that it has cut capital spending. The companies credit default swaps spread also widened, indicating greater concern over the companies credit worthiness.
CEO Aubrey McClendon had to sell approximately 33 million shares (substantially all of his stake at the company) due to a personal margin call. Reportedly, he lost 1.86B
Chesapeake Energy Corp. is poised to become the largest producer of U.S. natural gas, according to its CEO. Speaking at the CHK annual shareholders meeting, Aubrey McClendon said he expects the company's gas production to surpass that of the top two producers, BP PLC and Anadarko Petroleum Corp., within the next two months.
Chesapeake sells a volumetric production payment for some Appalachian holdings in early January to Deutsche Bank AG (DB) and UBS AG (UBS) affiliates for $1.1 billion. With the VPP, Chesapeake can continue to develop the area, but must make scheduled deliveries of a set quantity of gas to the purchasers.
