The Haynesville Shale has long been one of the most prolific natural gas plays in North America, and Expand Energy Corporation (EXE) is proving that operational efficiency can unlock even greater value from this rich resource. Following its merger with Southwestern Energy, EXE has streamlined its Haynesville operations, slashing drilling times, cutting costs, and leveraging infrastructure investments to position itself as one of the most competitive gas producers in the region.

Chesapeake is executing its previously disclosed plan to defer completions and new well turn-in-lines (TILs), building short-cycle, capital-efficient productive capacity.

Chesapeake reported a net income of $26 million and an adjusted net income of $80 million, with significant cash flow from operations totaling $552 million for the first quarter of 2024. By the end of the quarter, the company had built up an inventory of 24 drilled but uncompleted (DUCs) wells and 22 deferred TILs.

Houston-based Sage Geosystems announced the first close of $17 million round led by Chesapeake Energy Corp.

Chesapeake currently operates nine rigs — five in Haynesville and four in Marcellus. Given “market dynamics,” the company plans to drop one rig and one frac crew in each play by midyear, according to its fourth-quarter earnings report. The company will also defer placing wells into production, though it still expects to drill 95 to 115 wells in 2024.

Nick Dell’Osso, Chesapeake’s President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “2023 marked another year of strong operational performance for Chesapeake as we delivered approximately $840 million to shareholders via our capital return framework despite a challenging commodity price environment.

On 11 January 2024 Chesapeake Energy announced it would be combining with Southwestern Energy. This long-rumoured deal in some ways parallels ExxonMobil’s recent blockbuster purchase of Pioneer, and creates a US$24 billion company that will be the biggest player in US shale gas.

Chesapeake Energy said this week it recorded the fastest drilling program performance of all-time in its operations in the Marcellus play.

Chesapeake’s talks with Southwestern are preliminary, Reuters reported on Wednesday, referring to anonymous sources who did not wish to be named.