OKLAHOMA CITY, Dec 08, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) today announced that its
Executive Vice President of Exploration, J. Mark Lester, will retire
from the company at the end of January 2010. Mr. Lester will serve as a
consultant to Chesapeake through June 30, 2010 and help transition his
responsibilities to Chesapeake's Executive Vice President of Operations
and Chief Operating Officer, Steven C. Dixon.
Mr. Lester, 56, began his career with Unocal in 1977 and subsequently
consulted for various private independent exploration and production
companies for several years. He began consulting for Chesapeake's
co-founders, Aubrey McClendon and Tom Ward, in 1986 and formally joined
Chesapeake as one of its first employees in 1989. During his 20-year
career at Chesapeake, he led the company's exploration program and
helped build Chesapeake into one of the leading producers of natural gas
in the U.S. Mr. Lester oversaw the drilling of approximately 10,000
wells operated by Chesapeake, including more than 3,500 horizontal
wells, of which approximately 2,700 were horizontal shale wells - levels
of activity that are believed to be historically unprecedented in the
industry.
During the past four years, Mr. Lester and his team of more than 250
geoscientists and technical professionals have guided Chesapeake's
unconventional asset identification and development programs, which now
include more than 2.7 million net acres of leasehold in the Big 4 shale
plays, and achieved multiple significant discoveries including the
Haynesville Shale and Colony Granite Wash plays. In addition, Mr. Lester
led the creation of Chesapeake's unique state-of-the-art Reservoir
Technology Center.
Mr. Lester commented, "I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished
and built during my 20-year career at Chesapeake. I have been fortunate
to work with so many wonderful and talented people, including the best
Geoscience staff in the industry. However, it is simply time for me to
move on to the next phase of my life, which will involve far fewer
working hours and far more recreational hours than I have been
accustomed to at Chesapeake. I thank Aubrey McClendon, Tom Ward and all
of my colleagues at Chesapeake for a tremendous adventure during the
past 23 years."
Aubrey K. McClendon, Chesapeake's Chief Executive Officer, commented,
"Mark Lester has been a key member of our executive management team at
Chesapeake since the very beginning of our company. Mark is very
deserving of the opportunity to shift his priorities from the high
activity levels at Chesapeake to enjoy a slower pace. We all
congratulate Mark on a distinguished career at Chesapeake and are very
happy he is able to make this decision after much thought and
consideration. He will be greatly missed by all of his colleagues at
Chesapeake and we wish him well in the next phase of his life."
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
Investor Contact:
Jeffrey L. Mobley, CFA, 405-767-4763
Senior Vice President -
Investor Relations and Research
jeff.mobley@chk.com
or
Media Contact:
Jim Gipson, 405-935-1310
Director - Media Relations
jim.gipson@chk.com