Pour a little fracking fluid out for a homie.
Late last week, Chesapeake Energy – the oil and gas giant synonymous with greed, excess, and Christmas lights during the early stages of the OKC renaissance – announced its rebranding and changing its name following a merger with something called “Southwestern Energy Company.”
Here are the details via News 9:
The Chesapeake Energy Corporation announced on Thursday that it will undergo a name change when it merges with Southwestern Energy Company in October.
The company said the waiting period for the companies' pending combination has ended, and the two companies expect the merger to close in the first week of October.
According to a press release, the combined company will be the largest natural gas producer in the U.S. and will assume the name Expand Energy Corporation.
Sure, the Chesapeake name comes with plenty of baggage—pollution, Aubrey McClendon, canceling Christmas, etc.— but tossing it away feels like a shortsighted move.
Despite all its warts, Chesapeake was still an established national brand. As companies like Papa John’s, BP, Ashley Madison, and many others have proven, it’s a lot easier and cheaper to rebuild a brand than start a new one from scratch.
But, alas, with a merger, there are usually egos to manage and dumb decisions to overcome. Here’s what Chesapeake’s CEO had to say about it all:
"The world is short on energy," said Nick Dell'Osso, Chesapeake's President and Chief Executive Officer. "With a premium scaled position across leading natural gas basins in the United States, a peer-leading returns program, and a resilient financial foundation, Expand Energy is uniquely positioned to compete on an international scale, expand America's energy reach, and deliver opportunity for the world's energy customers."
The only thing I really know about oil and gas production is that the people who run the companies and own the land seem to make a lot of money, so I have to ask – what’s a peer-leading returns program?
Can you now return your unused oil and natural gas as long as you pay for the shipping? If so, can Oklahoma get a refund on the price-gouged gas we purchased during the 2021 cold spell?
Bad jokes aside, this is some bittersweet news.
Once again, say what you want about Chesapeake, but it was an Oklahoma success story, and when the company’s debt, production, and man-made earthquakes were really heating up in the aughts, it was probably the most visible, evil, and noticeable Oklahoma company this side of Hobby Lobby!
Although Expand Energy – it hurts to write that – will still be around on NW 63rd and Western, it’s honestly kind of sad to see the Chesapeake name go. I have so many fond memories covering it.
For example, I’ll never forget about 10 years ago – right when Chesapeake’s house of over-leveraged cards was on the precipice of a historic collapse – the spouse of an executive in the company’s HR Department let me know they were about to conduct massive layoffs, including parting ways with the company’s beekeeper. They sent me a screenshot of an internal email confirming it.
Naturally, I quickly fired up an article about it, and the story soon went national.
It’s never fun to write about people losing their jobs and income, but from my perspective, the whole saga was pretty cool.
We got a lot of pageviews, hat-tips, and backlinks, and somewhat comically, business reporters in the national media thought I was way more clued into the local fracking scene than I probably was!
Over the next few years, they'd occasionally wine and dine me trying to score inside information and scoops about the oil and gas industry. I was then able to send them down some fun rabbit holes that lead to big exposés like this one:
You can read more stories and tidbits like this in my upcoming memoir – From JoJo and Emily with Love: The Life and Times of an Obscure Local Social Blogger.
Anyway, what were we talking about again?
Oh yeah, the Chesapeake name going the same way as the dodo, passenger pigeon, and, eventually, our world’s natural resources.
Although it’s sad to see the Chesapeake name go, I guess it's good that at least the shell of the company will remain, and keep employing Oklahomans and keeping the Republic on Classen Curve open for business.
The next time you feel a man-made earthquake, or get squeezed by OG&E during the next cold spell, say a little prayer in the company's honor.
RIP.
