Chesapeake Energy is in advanced talks to acquire privately owned natural gas producer Chief Oil & Gas for around US$2.4 billion, including debt, reported Reuters.
A deal for Chief Oil & Gas, founded and controlled by Texan “wildcatter” Trevor Rees-Jones, could be announced as soon as this week, the sources said. In wildcat drilling, exploration wells are dug in areas not known to be natural resource fields.
The acquisition by Chesapeake, a US shale gas and oil producer that only emerged from bankruptcy just last year, underscores the recovery of parts of the energy industry as natural resource prices surge to multi-year highs.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private information, cautioned that negotiations could still fall apart at the last moment.
If completed, it would be the second acquisition which Chesapeake has made since February 2021, when it emerged from one of the largest oil and gas producer bankruptcies of recent years. In November, Chesapeake completed the purchase of Vine Energy for US$615 million.
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