據油價網2021年8月15日報道，美國頁巖行業先驅之一的切薩皮克能源公司，在通過一項重大收購協議從破產中復蘇6個月以后重新開始運營，這標志著切薩皮克能源公司重返路易斯安那州的頁巖氣盆地。

　　盡管這一舉動已被廣泛預期，但切薩皮克能源公司是去年年中申請破產的美國頁巖公司中最知名的能源公司之一。

　　如今，這家轉型后的頁巖氣先鋒將收購Vine 能源公司，后者在路易斯安那州西北部的超壓堆疊的海恩斯維爾和中博西爾頁巖遠景區開發天然氣資源。切薩皮克能源公司本周表示，此次收購為零溢價交易，價值約22億美元。

　　《福布斯》記者克里斯托弗·赫爾曼指出，此次收購將使這家美國頁巖巨頭成為海恩斯維爾頁巖遠景區的最大天然氣生產商，頁巖氣日產量約為15億立方英尺，可供鉆探的地點有數百個。

　　隨著收購Vine能源公司，新切薩皮克能源公司將加倍下注頁巖氣和海恩斯維爾頁巖遠景區。切薩皮克能源公司曾在2015年和2016年出售了其在海恩斯維爾盆地的許多資產，旨在壓低其巨額債務，然而，巨大債務最終還是迫使切薩皮克能源公司在2020年宣布破產。

　　切薩皮克能源公司董事會主席兼臨時首席執行官Mike Wichterich表示：“這筆交易加強了切薩皮克能源公司的競爭地位，顯著增加了我們的自由現金流前景，深化了我們優質天然氣的庫存，同時保持了我們的資產負債表的實力。”

　　Wichterich補充說：““通過整合海恩斯維爾頁巖遠景區，擁有規模和運營經驗的切薩皮克能源公司能夠迅速成為墨西哥灣沿岸和海外高端市場的主要天然氣供應商。”

　　切薩皮克能源公司對Vine能源公司的收購反映了美國頁巖行業的兩大趨勢。 首先，這是合并正在進行的整合浪潮。 其次，由于今年大宗商品價格的上漲，許多公司都在進行自我改造，用現金流來償還債務。或者，就切薩皮克能源公司而言，他們在破產重組后，擁有了新的管理層，并對如何在不陷入債務的情況下開展業務有了新的看法。

　　2020年，危機和低天然氣價格使得切薩皮克能源公司成為主要受害者，切薩皮克能源公司在6月份申請了破產保護。 分析人士表示，這一特殊申請要等很長時間。

　　伍德麥肯茲上游團隊首席分析師Alex Beeker當時表示：“如果我用一個詞來形容切薩皮克能源公司的話，那就是‘過度’——過度的負債、過度的成本、供過于求市場上的天然氣供應過度。”

　　切薩皮克能源公司是美國頁巖公司“自取滅亡”的典型代表，在今年1月份脫離破產保護。

　　今年第二季度，切薩皮克能源公司產生了3.94億美元的運營現金流，第二季度末手頭有6.12億美元的現金。

　　Wichterich稱，該公司“不再是過去的切薩皮克能源公司”，并向投資者保證，在海恩斯維爾的交易中，切薩皮克能源公司不會為Vine能源公司多支付錢。

　　“我們擁有超穩定的資產負債表，”這位高管在接受路透社采訪時表示。 “我們的語氣和態度有些不同，”他補充道。

　　在切薩皮克-Vine收購海恩斯維爾盆地的兩個月前，西南能源公司表示將以約27億美元價格收購海恩斯維爾盆地生產商Indigo 自然資源公司，這表明海恩斯維爾盆地的整合已經開始。

　　增加了Vine能源公司之后，切薩皮克能源公司在海恩斯維爾盆地又轉了一整圈。 5年前，切薩皮克能源公司通過多筆交易出售了ArkLaTex投資組合的很大一部分。 但現在有了Vine能源公司，切薩皮克能源公司將以超過15億立方英尺/天的頁巖氣產量重新成為海恩斯維爾盆地最大的頁巖氣生產商。”

　　伍德麥肯茲對切薩皮克能源公司在新的領導層和財務狀況改善后在運營方面變得更加激進并不感到意外。

　　伍德麥肯茲說：“我們并不驚訝切薩皮克能源公司通過并購在其最好的資產之一上加倍下注。”

　　本周的交易使切薩皮克能源公司成為與先鋒自然資源公司和EQT能源公司一樣，擁有“盆地主導”增長戰略的美國頁巖企業之一。“這是投資者可以充滿信心地支持的交易。 節約成本的問題也得到了更清晰的理解。”

　　李峻 編譯自 油價網

　　原文如下：

　　The Shale Pioneer Preparing For A Comeback

　　One of the U.S. shale pioneers, Chesapeake Energy, is back in business six months after emerging from bankruptcy with a major acquisition— marking its return to the shale gas basin in Louisiana.

　　Chesapeake Energy was one of the most prominent names in the U.S. shale patch to file for bankruptcy in the middle of last year, although the move had been widely expected.

　　Now the reinvented shale gas pioneer is buying Vine Energy, which develops natural gas properties in the over-pressured stacked Haynesville and Mid-Bossier shale plays in Northwest Louisiana. The acquisition is a zero premium transaction valued at approximately $2.2 billion, Chesapeake Energy said this week.

　　The acquisition will make the shale giant the top gas producer in Haynesville, with around 1.5 billion cubic feet per day of production and hundreds of locations to drill, Forbes reporter Christopher Helman notes.

　　With the acquisition of Vine Energy, the new Chesapeake Energy is doubling down on shale gas and on Haynesville, half a decade after selling many of its assets in the basin in 2015 and 2016 as it was weighed down by enormous debts, which ultimately forced it to declare bankruptcy last year.

　　"This transaction strengthens Chesapeake's competitive position, meaningfully increasing our free cash flow outlook and deepening our inventory of premium gas locations while preserving the strength of our balance sheet," Mike Wichterich, Chesapeake's Board Chairman and Interim CEO, said.

　　"By consolidating the Haynesville, Chesapeake has the scale and operating expertise to quickly become the dominant supplier of responsibly sourced gas to premium markets in the Gulf Coast and abroad," the executive added.

　　Chesapeake Energy's acquisition is indicative of two major trends in U.S. shale. First, it's the ongoing consolidation wave in the patch. And second, many firms are reinventing themselves and pay down debt with cash flows as commodity prices rose this year, or, in Chesapeake's case, emerge from Chapter 11 restructuring with a new management and a new outlook on how to do business without drowning in debt.

　　In 2020, the crisis and the low natural gas prices claimed as a prominent victim as Chesapeake, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June. Analysts said this particular filing was a long time coming.

　　"If I were to describe Chesapeake in one word, that word is 'excess' - excess liabilities, excess costs, excess gas in an oversupplied market," Alex Beeker, principal analyst on Wood Mackenzie's corporate upstream team, said at the time.

　　Chesapeake, the poster child of U.S. shale firms "drilling themselves to oblivion," emerged from Chapter 11 in January this year.

　　For the second quarter of 2021, the company generated $394 million of operating cash flow and ended the quarter with $612 million cash on hand.

　　The firm is "no longer the Chesapeake of the past," Wichterich said, assuring investors it is not overpaying for Vine in the Haynesville deal.

　　"We have a super-stable balance sheet," the executive told Reuters in an interview. "There is a tone that is a little different and attitude that is a little different," he added.

　　The Chesapeake-Vine deal in the Haynesville basin comes two months after Southwestern Energy said it would buy Haynesville producer Indigo Natural Resources for around $2.7 billion, suggesting that consolidation in the basin has started.

　　"Adding Vine brings Chesapeake full circle in the Haynesville. The company sold off a large portion of its ArkLaTex portfolio in multiple deals five years ago. But now with Vine, Chesapeake will return to being the largest Haynesville producer, at over 1.5 bcfd," Wood Mackenzie analysts said, commenting on the deal.

　　WoodMac isn't surprised that Chesapeake became more aggressive in operations with its new leadership and refreshed financials.

　　"[W] e're not surprised to see the company doubling down on one of its best assets through M&A.

　　This week's deal makes Chesapeake one of the U.S. shale firms with a 'basin dominance' growth strategy, alongside Pioneer and EQT.

　　"And this is the kind of deal investors can support with confidence. The cost savings are more clearly understood," WoodMac said.

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