Natural Gas Drilling Nets Big Tax Payments

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) today announced the company will be making a total of more than $9 million in property tax payments to parishes benefiting from natural gas and oil development.

Representatives from Chesapeake will begin making presentations at area police jury meetings to formally announce the individual parish totals that include payments from Chesapeake Operating, Inc., Chesapeake Midstream and drilling subsidiary Nomac Drilling, LLC for property, real estate and personal property taxes in 2011.

The tax payments will be divided according to current millages for parish schools, law enforcement, police juries and other taxing authorities in each parish: 

• Bienville Parish $297,155.15

• Bossier Parish $675,043.73

• Desoto Parish $7,313,881.02

• Natchitoches Parish $173.438.73

• Red River Parish $288,263.36

• Sabine Parish $597,467.04

• Webster Parish $66,981.14 

“Chesapeake is proud to contribute to Louisiana's economy while also producing a carbon light fuel that cleans our air and builds our nation's energy security," said Paul Pratt, Chesapeake's Director – Corporate Development. "In every measure of our local economy, whether it's sales and ad valorem tax receipts, real estate values and direct or indirect employment, the Haynesville Shale economies have been largely insulated from the economic downturn impacting the remainder of the country." 

In addition to taxes, during the first nine months of 2011, the company paid approximately $110 million in payments to lease additional mineral acreage, and, from 2008 to June 2011, distributed $174 million in royalty payments to royalty owners in northwest Louisiana parishes. 

The Haynesville became the largest natural gas producing field in the country in March 2011, producing 5.5 billion cubic feet per day. Chesapeake's current gross operated production is approximately 1.7 billion cubic feet per day, meaning that if the company's Haynesville assets were a stand-alone company, it would be the seventh largest natural gas producer in the U.S.