Chesapeake Energy Corp. has agreed to acquire approximately 2,000 net undeveloped leasehold acres in the heart of the Barnett Shale play in Tarrant County, TX, from Western Production Co. and a partner, the Oklahoma City-based producer said Monday.

Chesapeake also said it has entered into a land services agreement (LSA) whereby Western affiliate Axia Land Services LLC has agreed to work on an exclusive basis in certain areas of Tarrant County to acquire leases on Chesapeake’s behalf. This arrangement is intended to complement similar LSAs that Chesapeake has in place with Dale Property Services LLC, Four Sevens Oil Co. Ltd. and Sinclair Oil Co. covering different portions of Tarrant County. Chesapeake now has approximately 235,000 net acres of leasehold in the Barnett play, including 200,000 net acres in the Core and Tier 1 area of Tarrant, Johnson and Western Dallas Counties. Chesapeake’s drilling inventory in the play has expanded to more than 2,700 net locations.

“We are excited to announce our new undeveloped leasehold acquisition and LSA with Paun Peters [president of Western Production] and Western’s affiliate, Axia,” said CEO Aubrey K. McClendon. “With our own landmen and lease brokers now teamed up with the Western, Dale, Four Sevens and Sinclair leasing teams, we will continue acquiring a steady stream of valuable leasehold in Tarrant County that will provide Chesapeake with significant growth opportunities for years to come.”

Including these LSAs and its own landmen and lease brokers, Chesapeake now has a substantial competitive advantage with nearly 1,000 landmen and lease brokers dedicated to acquiring additional undeveloped leasehold and surface drillsites in Tarrant County, the company said. Chesapeake said it believes its drillsite and leasehold acquisition commitment to Tarrant County should enable it to continue acquiring up to 40,000 net leasehold acres per year in what is quickly becoming the most prolific county in the Barnett Shale. This anticipated yearly addition to the company’s leasehold inventory should provide up to an additional 500-600 drilling locations per year, largely offsetting the number of wells Chesapeake plans to drill in Tarrant County during the next few years.

Last week Chesapeake said it recently initiated production of approximately 30 MMcfe/d of gas from the first 11 wells on its 18,000-acre Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport lease (see Daily GPI, Oct. 31).

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