Chesapeake Energy, a Shale Pioneer, Files for Bankruptcy Protection
HOUSTON — Chesapeake Energy, a pioneer in extracting natural gas from shale rock across the country, filed for bankruptcy protection on Sunday, unable to overcome a mountain of debt that became unsustainable after a decade of stubbornly low gas prices.
The company helped convert the United States from a natural gas importer into a major exporter under the swashbuckling leadership of Aubrey McClendon, a company co-founder and former chief executive.
But Mr. McClendon overextended the company and amassed over $20 billion in debt before he was forced out in 2013, and Chesapeake, based in Oklahoma City, never fully recovered.
Chesapeake lost $8.3 billion in the first quarter of this year, and had just $82 million in cash at the end of March. With $9.5 billion in debt at the end of last year, it has bond payments of $192 million due in August.
>shuffling billions of dollars into no where…. $uce$$
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/28/business/economy/chesapeake-energy-bankruptcy.html