Chesapeake adds more Oklahoma acreage to sale list

Chesapeake Energy Corp. is selling more of its acreage in Oklahoma because the cash-strapped company cannot afford to develop it.

A listing for about 28,000 net acres held by Chesapeake in three western Oklahoma counties was listed Thursday on the website of broker Meagher Energy Advisors. The acreage is part of the Granite Wash and Hogshooter horizontal plays.

“Chesapeake is offering this unique exploration and development opportunity because its current drilling budget is not sufficient to fully develop its leasehold in this area,” according to the listing.

The acreage includes 113 producing wells, with net sales  of 765 barrels of oil, 684 barrels of natural gas liquids and 9,935 thousand cubic feet of natural gas a day over the past year.

Chesapeake trumpeted its holdings in the Hogshooter play in June as a new discovery expected to provide a significant boost to the company, which is shifting its focus from land acquisition to asset harvest. Officials said that acreage is not the same as the holdings now listed for sale.

“The West Turkey Creek Granite Wash and Hogshooter Wash acreage that is for sale is a small non-core package of acreage and not connected to our significant Hogshooter discovery in Texas that was announced earlier this year,” spokesman Michael Kehs said.

The company has spent much of the year looking to sell assets to overcome a looming cash shortage.

Chesapeake has raised about $11.6 billion this year, but the company is looking to raise as much as $14 billion this year to offset an anticipated budget shortfall.

Chesapeake also is selling acreage in southern Oklahoma, Michigan, Ohio, Colorado and Wyoming through Meagher. Officials have said the company also is looking to find a joint venture partner for its acreage in the Mississippi Lime in northern Oklahoma and southern Kansas.

Thank you for joining our conversation on Power Play. We encourage your discussion but ask that you stay within the bounds of our commenting and posting policy.