Chesapeake Energy Corp (CHK)

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Asian companies showing 'significant interest' in Chesapeake Energy assets

Asian companies and utilities are showing “significant interest” in Chesapeake Energy’s assets, the Utica shale driller’s CEO said.

The Oklahoma City company (NYSE:CHK) said last month it would pursue selling some of its vast U.S. portfolio, which includes 1 million acres in eastern Ohio. It’s still reorganizing itself and its land holdings in the post Aubrey McClendon-era, which includes CEO Doug Lawler, who took over in 2013.

Some Chesapeake operations in Ohio could be targeted by Asian companies.

At a New York energy conference this week, a stock analyst asked Lawler about the progress of its asset sales. Lawler said there’s been a number of companies interested in parts of Chesapeake's shale play operations, including domestic and Asian companies.

“We’ve had significant interest from Asian companies as well as significant interest from Asian utilities that are looking to secure an upstream position,” Lawler said.

Asia has been a target for the oil and gas industry to export liquefied natural gas because of an expected increase in demand for energy in emerging economies there.

Chesapeake’s Utica shale acreage in Ohio is rumored to be a top candidate for sale, Bloomberg reports. If so, eastern Ohio could be home to a lot of Asian interests: PTT Global Chemical Public Company Ltd. of Thailand is a year away from deciding whether to build a $5.7 billion ethane cracker plant in Belmont County.