Bloomberg: Chesapeake Sees Asian Utilities in the Hunt for U.S. Gas Fields

Chesapeake Energy Corp., the U.S. natural-gas producer that’s been selling assets to cut debt by more than $3.8 billion, said Asian utilities have begun kicking the tires at fields it might divest.

Utilities seeking a hedge to gas they’ve contracted to import in liquefied form have shown “significant interest” in “the things we are going to potentially sell,” Chief Executive Officer Doug Lawler said today in a web cast from the Barclays CEO Energy/Power Conference in New York. To raise cash, Chesapeake has been selling assets including gas fields, pipelines and buildings, and has said it will consider partners for joint ventures.

Lawler’s predecessor, Aubrey McClendon, had an affinity for Asian deals. Under McClendon, Chesapeake sold stakes in fields to CNOOC Ltd. in 2010 and to China Petroleum & Chemical Co. in 2013. In December, U.S. utility Florida Power & Light, a unit of NextEra Energy Inc., won regulatory approval to partner with a gas producer to develop an Oklahoma gas field. FP&L persuaded officials that owning gas can provide cheaper price protection than a financial hedge. MORE