Chesapeake expands Rockies shale, retires costly payouts

OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma (Bloomberg) -- Chesapeake Energy Corp., the U.S. natural gas producer that almost ran out of money last year, is spending $1.71 billion to expand access to oil-soaked shale in Wyoming and buy back preferred shares that were a drain on cash. Chesapeake will repurchase $1.26 billion of preferred shares of its CHK Utica unit that burned through $75 million a year in dividends, enough to drill more than a dozen shale wells, the Oklahoma City-based company said in a statement.

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