We knew Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon could do it if he tried.
The Wall Street Journal reports,
Taking a drastic step to stem a glut of natural gas that has pushed prices down 45% in the last year, the nation’s second-largest producer said it will slash gas drilling by nearly half.
The move is an abrupt turnabout by Chesapeake Energy Corp., which calls itself “America’s Champion of Natural Gas” and helped pioneer drilling techniques that have opened up swaths of the U.S. to energy produced from shale rock. So much gas-rich shale has been found, however, that federal and private forecasters predict an oversupply will last for years.
The announcement by Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake was greeted with exuberance by traders and investors, who have been waiting for months for a sign energy producers are willing to make dramatic changes in their gas-drilling behavior…
This behavior stands in stark contrast to Chesapeake’s earlier efforts to fearmonger about coal.
Read Steve Milloy’s PajamasMedia commentary “Junk Science War: Fracking Quakes and ‘Dirty Faces’.”