Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK), Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)
McClendon stakes out Ohio oil-shale prospects (MarketWatch)
Aubrey McClendon, the former chief executive of Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) -0.36% , has raised about $1.2 billion to build up a new oil and gas exploration company that’s making a big bet on Ohio’s Utica Shale, The Wall Street Journal said. The money comes mostly from two energy-focused private-equity firms, the newspaper reported, citing people close to the matter. About $500 million would come from Energy & Minerals Group, a Houston private-equity firm led by John Raymond, son of former Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) -0.21% CEO Lee Raymond.
Exclusive: Ousted Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon Launching Ohio Land Grab (HuffingtonPost)
Aubrey McClendon’s penchant for “land grab” as a business model made the recently-ousted Chesapeake Energy CEO infamous — and he’s at it again for his new start-up hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) company in Ohio’s Utica Shale basin. Under Securities and Exchange Commission investigation for sketchy business practices, McClendon departed Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) with a severance package including $35 million, access to the company’s private jets through 2016 and a 2.5 percent return on every well Chesapeake fracks through June 2014.
Federal regulators don’t want you to see Pegasus pipeline’s spill plan (ArkTimes)
Federal regulators have released ExxonMobil’s 2013 emergency response plan for the pipeline that ruptured in an Arkansas residential neighborhood on March 29, but the document is so heavily redacted that it offers little information about Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)’s preparations for such an accident. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) completely blotted out more than 100 pages of the 290-page document, including Exxon’s worst-case scenario hypothesis and its plans to repair any damage caused by an accident.
Pump Up ExxonMobil’s Low-Octane Performance (Barrons)
Where you sit depends on where you stand on ExxonMobil (ticker: XOM). For long-term investors, the energy giant’s recent stock weakness is a blip on a prosperous journey of compounded returns and reinvested dividends. But for relatively new Exxon investors, who may have bought the shares in the past year on the thesis that oil prices would rise as the global economy recovered, the stock is causing agita. While Exxon stock is up 1.37% in the past year, it has fallen 8% in the past 30 days, significantly worse than the negative 2% total return (dividends reinvested) of the Standard & Poor’s 500.
Icahn boosts Chesapeake stake (CNBC)
Chesapeake cut to neutral by Susquehanna (MarketWatch)
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) +0.08% was Wednesday cut to neutral from positive by Susquehanna, with the analysts saying much of the recent improvement is now priced into the share price. “While all the right rhetoric is in place and old-guard senior managers have recently been let go, gas markets are weak, CHK’s easiest divestitures are done, and CHK is only now implementing a new capital allocation system.
Rosneft And ExxonMobil Proceed With LNG Project Implementation (EurasiaReview)
Rosneft and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) continue to progress the LNG project proposed in the Russian Far East. The contractor selection process for design and engineering work has officially commenced. Capacity of the LNG project to be located on Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East is expected to be 5 million tons per year, subject to further expansion. The liquefaction plant, the launch of which is scheduled for 2018, will receive natural gas from Rosneft’s reserves in the Far East and other Sakhalin gas reserves.
Exxon Mobil: Oversold, But Still Wobbly (InvestorPlace)
Oil exploration and production giant Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) late last month bumped up against its long-time area of resistance around the $96 mark. What at the time might have looked like a stock with potential to pierce through resistance, however, once more established itself as the weaker of the two and proceeded to recede quite sharply over the past three weeks. Traders that kept in mind the longer-term view of the stock, on the chart below, will have noted that the stock’s relative higher high in July vs. the 2011 highs came on waning momentum as indicated by the relative strength index (RSI).
Chesapeake Energy Corp. Downgraded to Neutral at Susquehanna (CHK) (MideastTime)
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) was downgraded by stock analysts at Susquehanna from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, TheFlyOnTheWall.com reports. They currently have a $26.00 target price on the stock. Susquehanna’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 2.93% from the company’s current price. The analysts noted that the move was a valuation call.
