Today, Chesapeake Energy (CHK), the second largest U.S. producer of natural gas, said that it expects to see production in the third quarter of 542,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day versus the previous estimate of 550,000. The company also lowered its forecast for fiscal 2017 production. A good part of the drop in the forecast was the disruption caused by Hurricane Harvey, which forced Chesapeake to stop work in the Eagle Ford shale geology of Texas. In the fourth quarter the company said it would put 120-130 new wells into production.
The shares closed unchanged today, September 26. Chesapeake Energy is a member of my long-term 50 Stocks Portfolio. The shares are down 34.09% in the last 12 months.
There was good news in today’s forecast, however. The company said that it would hit its target of averaging production of 100,000 barrels of oil in the quarter. Chesapeake has prioritized drilling for oil instead of natural gas in the very depressed (yes, more depressed than oil) market for natural gas.
