Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:CHK) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Mohit Singh: Umang, this is Mohit. On the second part of your question about momentum. As we’ve said previously, we are very excited about the project and what it means for our flow assurance. We look at the volumes that we are producing in Haynesville and are trying to build a transport portfolio, which allows us to take it to Perryville or down south to Gilles. And the intent — this is part of our BLNG-ready strategy where we get production to Gilles and that’s where we can have connectivity to different liquefaction facilities. So, momentum has — it remains a critical part of our strategy, and we — it’s on track. We expect it to go into service probably late next year or early 2025 which is all still on track. We still like the project, and it remains a key part of our LNG strategy.

Umang Choudhary: That’s really helpful. Thank you guys.

Operator: Our next question will come from Bert Donnes with Truist. You may now go ahead. pardon me, Bert, your line is open for questions.

Bert Donnes: …your total company LNG pricing exposure, predominantly to an international index instead of a domestic one, is that an intentional shift? Or was this just kind of timing and maybe you have some Henry Hub agreements down the line even out the score? And maybe the second part of that is, is there any reason you haven’t signed an open ended agreement where you kind of retain control and sell the gas at the final destination.

Nick Dell’Osso: Sure. Bert, your — the first part of your question didn’t come through. I think maybe you were coming off a mute or something. But I’ll start to talk about LNG and Mohit will add in, and then you’ll have to just redirect us if we miss part of your question. But you were asking about percentage of international price exposure. We’ve been pretty consistent there to talk about 15% to 20%. I guess to clarify based on a question we got last night, when we talk about 15% to 20% of our production that we target for international pricing, that’s our net production generally, when companies announce these deals, they are announced under gross marketed production, which is obviously more. So, just to think about that, you need to consider what our average net revenue interest is across our production.

It was a pretty good approximation for how to net that down. So, we’ve got a little bit of ways to go to get there. We’re not done yet. And we like that we’re not done yet. We think there’s plenty more interesting deals to be had in the LNG space. And as to why we’ve done what we’ve done with a trader rather than try to market it ourselves, I think it’s going to take a pretty significant presence in LNG marketing to be really successful at marketing volumes. This is a market that is — the participants in this market are very, very large. The majors participate in this market and the big commodities traders participate in this market on a daily basis. And I think in order to be competitive there, you need to be part of a pool of volumes that can be traded around in a very fluid way.

And to be a producer that may ultimately have 3 million or 4 million or 5 million tons per annum on the water, we think is relatively small and would be a challenge to be competitive in that marketplace. That said, we’re always eager to be creative and how we think about the best ways for us to access international markets and achieve international pricing. We like what we’ve done so far. This market is evolving and evolving rapidly, and we’ll continue to think about the best ways for us to participate.

Bert Donnes: I appreciate that. And then just a small detail on the presentation. You kind of shifted your deflation expectations. I think prior, you were using 1Q over 1Q and you’ve shifted to first half over first half. So, I guess the first part is what was the shift there? And then the second part is of the 50% that you have locked in, are those locked in at fixed prices or are those maybe have some sort of escalator deal or something linked to commodity prices? Thanks.