Chesapeake Cleared by Bankruptcy Court to Sell Midcontinent Assets

A court has authorized Chesapeake Energy Corp. to sell its Midcontinent assets and approved procedures to get the process started. 

Under an order issued by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Chesapeake has until Oct. 22 to designate a stalking horse bidder that would set the bar for the value and terms of any sale. The court set a deadline of Oct. 29 for other qualifying bids and tentatively scheduled an auction for Nov. 10. 

Chesapeake, once a symbol of the American natural gas industry’s revival, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June to wipe out $7 billion of debt. The company’s stock was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange in July. 

The company holds more than 700,000 net acres in west and northwest Oklahoma, where it has...