Aubrey

U.S. onshore operator American Energy Partners LP (AELP) has hired Scott D. Sachs as senior geoscience executive adviser, James C. Johnson as senior marketing and midstream executive and Traci D. Cook as chief accounting officer. All three previously worked for AELP founder Aubrey McClendon when he was CEO of Chesapeake Energy Corp. Sachs, 54, had been vice president of geoscience from 2005 to 2014 and spent 18 years at Marathon Oil Co. Johnson, 57, was Chesapeake senior vice president of marketing for 18 years and, beginning in 2000, was president of Chesapeake Energy Marketing Inc. Cook, 50, was a Chesapeake executive for 19 years and since 2006 had been vice president and division controller of financial analysis and reporting.

Chesapeake Energy Corp., the mega-operator that Aubrey McClendon built shale-by-shale, is being repurposed brick-by-brick as the company transitions from risky exploration to steady production.

Chesapeake Energy Corp., the mega-operator that Aubrey McClendon built shale-by-shale, is being repurposed brick-by-brick as the company transitions from risky exploration to steady production.

Chesapeake Energy Corp., the mega-operator that Aubrey McClendon built shale-by-shale, is being repurposed brick-by-brick as the company transitions from risky exploration to steady production.

Robert Douglas Lawler, tapped to be CEO of Chesapeake Energy Corp. beginning June 17, will earn more than co-founder and predecessor Aubrey McClendon, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing (see Daily GPI, May 21). The compensation package for the first year of employment has the potential to total at least $22 million, if Lawler hits his bonus targets, the SEC Form 8-K indicated. Base salary is set at $1.25 million a year, with a cash bonus of at least $800,000 the first year, a cash signing bonus of $2 million, and shares and options worth $18 million. About $7.5 million of the shares and options are to be paid over the next five years. If Lawler stays for five years, he is to receive another $5 million. About $12.5 million of the share awards are to compensate for losses in pensions and benefits for leaving Anadarko Petroleum Corp. By comparison, McClendon earned a base salary of $975,000 in 2012, with total remuneration of $16.9 million, according to company documents. However, McClendon also earns, and will continue to earn through June 2014, up to 2.5% in profits on wells that the company drills.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. has altered former CEO Aubrey McClendon’s noncompete agreement, giving him the right to acquire oil and natural gas holdings that are adjacent to the company’s wells in which he holds a stake. However, McClendon first would have to offer to Chesapeake the rights to purchase the adjacent properties on the same terms, and if more than 40% of the properties are next to the company’s operations, he would have to obtain its consent, according to a Form 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing indicated that Chesapeake would pay McClendon almost $50 million in severance, with the last payment in July 2014. He also is allowed the use of a company aircraft through 2016. McClendon agreed, for one year from the effective date of Jan. 29, 2013, not to hire any Chesapeake employee after April 1 except an employee assigned to provide accounting support or as an assistant; who had been terminated, but had not voluntarily departed; elected to accept any voluntary severance or retirement program offered by the company; or for whom the company consented in advance.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. last week altered former CEO Aubrey McClendon’s noncompete agreement, giving him the right to acquire oil and natural gas holdings that are adjacent to the company’s wells in which he holds a stake.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. founder Aubrey McClendon, who was forced to retire as CEO on April 1, has leased office space in Oklahoma City and lured two executives to what appears to be the start of at least one new company.

Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary-designate Ernest J. Moniz fielded questions about his position on hydraulic fracturing (fracking), natural gas exports and climate change during his confirmation hearing Tuesday before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.