StatoilHydro Cuts Deal With Chesapeake Energy

StatoilHydro inks deal with Chesapeake

Norwegian natural gas supplier StatoilHydro has inked a deal to acquire a 32.5-percent stake in natural gas producer Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s Marcellus shale gas acreage, the European company said Wednesday.

StatoilHydro added that its interest in the Marcellus Shale, a gas-rich land mass in the Appalachia region of the U.S., includes 0.6 million net acres of Chesapeake’s 1.8 million net acre-leasehold.

The company will pay Chesapeake $1.250 billion in cash, as well as $2.125 billion on a 75 percent carry on drilling and the completion of the wells, StatoilHydro said.

In a press statement, StatoilHydro said the deal includes more than 32,000 leases in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York and Ohio -- all states with areas in the Marcellus Shale region. Chesapeake intends to continue to buy leases in the shale, and StatoilHydro says it will have a 32.5-percent stake in participation associated with new leaseholds.