HOUSTON — Aubrey McClendon was the face of the nation’s natural gas boom, a swashbuckling innovator who pioneered a shale revolution.
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He built a fortune as head of Chesapeake Energy, whose embrace of new production techniques unlocked previously untapped deposits and helped wean the United States from ever-increasing dependence on imports.
But late Tuesday, he was indicted on federal bid-rigging charges accusing him of conspiring to suppress prices for oil and natural gas leases. And on Wednesday morning, he died in a crash in Oklahoma City after his car hit a bridge at high speed. Mr. McClendon, 56, was to have appeared in court later in the day.
“He was charismatic and a true American entrepreneur,” said T. Boone Pickens, a legendary oilman himself, who knew Mr. McClendon for 25 years. “No individual is without flaws, but his impact on American energy will be long-lasting.”
Even in a business known for bigger-than-life executives, Mr. McClendon was a mythical character. His interests went far beyond the oil patch, including part ownerships of the Oklahoma City Thunder professional basketball team and a winery in Bordeaux, France. He bragged about his $12 million antique map collection.
Alfred Tennyson wrote:We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
The vehicle's data recorder showed that McClendon was driving 88 mph and then tapped his brakes, but not enough to significantly reduce speed. The brakes were fully operative, Citty said.
McClendon had his gas pedal floored until 1½ seconds before impact, when he reduced it from 99 to 25 percent depressed, the police chief said.
Investigators found tire tracks but no skid marks. Police are checking McClendon's cellphone records to determine if he was on the phone.
Cog wrote:CHK price $6.06 hehe.
Understand what that means: the bankers have no moved to the front of the line ahead of the shareholders and vendors.
rockdoc123 wrote:Understand what that means: the bankers have no moved to the front of the line ahead of the shareholders and vendors.
would have been that way in any event. Most of those loans are written in such a way as to put them at the front of the line.
The positive on this is if the banks already essentially own the asset they are less likely to shut the thing down as the current CHK team is likely their best option to have the fields run properly. Better yet they probably also get more Board representation and more say in how CHK run their operations.
Seems like they are trying to give CHK time to sell off enough assets themselves. That will leave the company with no resources to produce. I think quite of bit of those resources are worthless even at much higher commodity prices.
American Energy Partners was founded by oil and gas pioneer Aubrey McClendon, who died in a car accident on March 2.
Jonathan Willner, economics professor at Oklahoma City University, said he was not all that surprised when he heard the company was closing down.
“He was the main driver of this, he had the charisma, he had the persuasive ability,” Willner said. “Without Aubrey McClendon it wasn’t clear that they had much of a way forward.”
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