OKLAHOMA CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 28, 2009--
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK), America’s most active driller
of new natural gas wells and one of its largest natural gas producers,
today confirmed its previous announcements that it has no intention of
drilling natural gas wells within the New York City watershed.
Aubrey K. McClendon, Chesapeake’s Chief Executive Officer, commented,
“Chesapeake prides itself on using environmentally friendly technologies
for developing and producing natural gas – a reliable, affordable,
American energy source that is critical to our nation’s clean energy
future. However, it has become increasingly clear to us over the past
few months that the concern for drilling in the watershed has become a
needless distraction from the larger issues of how we can safely and
effectively develop the natural gas reserves that underlie various
counties in the Southern Tier of New York and create high-quality green
jobs in the Southern Tier and throughout the state. Our research has
shown we are the only leasehold owner in the New York City watershed,
and so Chesapeake is uniquely positioned to take this issue off the
table and allow the discussion to proceed constructively on natural gas
development in the Southern Tier. The small amount of acreage Chesapeake
had acquired within the watershed region – fewer than 5,000 acres – was
largely obtained as a result of leasing land outside the watershed from
property owners who also had tracts within the watershed. This leasehold
is immaterial to Chesapeake and also does not appear prospective for the
Marcellus Shale.
“Though Chesapeake believes it can drill safely in any watershed,
including New York City’s as confirmed by New York’s Department of
Environmental Conservation’s supplemental Generic Environmental Impact
Statement (GEIS), we have chosen to focus our efforts on more promising
areas for gas development in the state. We fully support setting high
environmental standards for the extraction of natural gas from the
Marcellus Shale and we look forward to continuing that process with the
state. Chesapeake supports the Department of Environmental
Conservation’s decision to have all hydraulic fracturing vendors
register their products and reveal the chemicals used in them. We
applaud the process they have undertaken and believe it to be a good
model for other states. In fact, Chesapeake has already disclosed the
frac chemicals it uses on its own website at www.chk.com
and also at www.hydraulicfracturing.com,
which are both accessible to anyone interested in knowing the
ingredients of the hydraulic fracturing operations utilized in
Chesapeake’s natural gas wells.”
With 1.5 million net acres under lease, Chesapeake is the largest owner
in the Marcellus Shale play, which spans from northern West Virginia
across much of Pennsylvania and across portions of the Southern Tier of
New York. Chesapeake is the most active driller in the Marcellus Shale
play and by the end of 2009, Chesapeake expects to become the largest
producer of natural gas from the play.
Chesapeake Energy Corporation is one of the leading producers of
natural gas in the U.S. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, the
company's operations are focused on the development of onshore
unconventional and conventional natural gas in the U.S. in the Barnett
Shale, Haynesville Shale, Fayetteville Shale, Marcellus Shale, Anadarko
Basin, Arkoma Basin, Appalachian Basin, Permian Basin, Delaware Basin,
South Texas, Texas Gulf Coast and East Texas regions of the United
States. Further information is available at www.chk.com.
Source: Chesapeake Energy Corporation
Chesapeake Energy Corporation
Matt Sheppard, 304-353-5235
Senior
Director – Corporate Development
matt.sheppard@chk.com
or
Jim
Gipson, 405-935-1310
Director – Media Relations
jim.gipson@chk.com