Chesapeake Sells Shale Assets To Southwestern Energy For $5.375 Billion

Chesapeake Energy Corp. said Thursday it's selling shale assets to Southwestern Energy Co. for $5.375 billion. The assets based in the Southern Marcellus Shale and a portion of the Eastern Utica Shale in West Virginia comprise 413,000 net acres and 1,500 wells, as well as the property, plants and equipment that go with them. The average net daily production from the assets was about 56,000 barrels of oil equivalent in September. The companies are expecting the deal to close in the fourth quarter. Chesapeake is still expecting full-year production growth of 7% to 10% in 2015, adjusted for asset sales. Shares rose 7.5% in premarket trade, even as futures on the major indexes were down more than 1%. Chesapeake shares have fallen 38% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 is up 0.8%.