Chesapeake seals Utica Shale deal with Total

Chesapeake Energy Corp. has closed on its joint venture in Ohio's Utica Shale with France's Total SA, which previously had not been identified as Chesapeake's partner in the deal.

Chesapeake announced the $2.32 billion deal in November, but did not identify its joint venture partner until Tuesday.

Total will pay for a 25 percent interest in Chesapeake's Utica Shale acreage in a 10-county area of eastern Ohio.

"We believe that the Utica Shale is a world-class asset with world-class returns and now we have a world-class partner to help develop the play more aggressively than we could have with our own resources," Chesapeake CEO Aubrey K. McClendon said.
This is the second time Total has struck a deal to buy into Chesapeake's operations.
The companies agreed to a $2.25 billion joint venture last year for some of Chesapeake's acreage in North Texas' Barnett Shale.

"Total is delighted to be building on our technical successes with Chesapeake in the Barnett Shale joint venture and to expand into the liquids-rich Utica Shale play in Ohio," said Yves-Louis Darricarr¨¨

re, president of Total Exploration & Production. "This is consistent with our strategy to develop positions in unconventional plays with large potential and, in this case, with value predominantly linked to oil price.
"This joint venture will provide us with a material position in a valuable long-term resource base under attractive terms and with a top-class operator."

Chesapeake seems to be perfecting the art of finding venture partners to help develop its acreage in emerging resource plays.
The latest Total deal marks the seventh time Chesapeake has secured a joint venture.

McClendon said Chesapeake has sold about 1.5 million net acres for $14.8 billion in those deals, while retaining about 3.6 million acres worth $45.7 million, as indicated by its venture partners.