U.S top natural gas producer, Chesapeake Energy cuts jobs this week after completing the divestiture of its oil assets last year, the company said on Monday. Specifications of on the size and scope of the lay off were not announced.
As part of the deal, the company will replace current General Counsel Benjamin Russ with Southwestern General Counsel Chris Lacy, according to a regulatory filing on May 7.
Chesapeake in 2022 said it would exit the Eagle Ford shale field in south Texas, making it a pure-play natural gas producer. This week’s layoffs follow its divestment of its Eagle Ford assets, not the company’s pending merger with Southwestern Energy, Chesapeake said.
In early 2023 it sold some of those assets to INEOS Energy for $1.4 billion, and later that year completed the divestiture by selling the remaining assets to SilverBow Resources for $700 million.
The Oklahoma-based company is in the process of completing a $7.4 billion merger with Southwestern Energy. That deal is set to close in the second half of this year, later than originally anticipated after U.S. Federal Trade Commission sought additional information.
This year, natural gas companies have experienced a hit by low prices, which fell some 20% in the first quarter due to high inventories and softer-than-expected demand. Chesapeake missed Wall Street estimates for profit, and many companies – including Chesapeake – have curtailed production as a response.
