Chesapeake Energy is reported to have started talks about acquiring Southwestern Energy Company, an energy firm with projects in Appalachia and the Haynesville plays.
The initial report from Reuters indicated that talks between Chesapeake and Southwestern are in the preliminary stage, indicating that no concrete decision has been made at this point. There is also a possibility other companies might also be targets for acquisition by the Oklahoma City company.
Neither Chesapeake nor Southwestern are commenting publicly about the report.
Southwestern, headquartered in Spring, Texas, has an estimated 789,000 acres in Appalachia and 80% of it involves gas production. In the Haynesville area, 100% of its 149,000 acres of holdings is made up of natural gas production.
Chesapeake is already considered a major natural gas-focused operator and if it were to be successul in acquiring Southwestern, the firm would overtake EQT Corporation which is the largest natural gas-focused exploration and production company in the country. Chesapeake is also active in the same geographic areas where Southwestern has operations.
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