U.S. oil and gas producer Chesapeake Energy’s chapter 11 reorganization plan was approved by a Bankruptcy Judge David Jones yesterday, giving lenders control of the firm and ending a contentious trial, Reuters reported. Chesapeake will emerge from bankruptcy with about $3 billion in new financing, a $7 billion reduction in debt, and eliminating $1.7 billion in gas processing and pipeline costs, under the plan endorsed by the court. Investors who committed last spring to back the restructuring as energy tumbled stand to benefit enormously. A rebound in oil and gas prices raised Chesapeake’s value to about $5.13 billion, the judge hearing the case said. Once the second-largest U.S. natural gas producer, Chesapeake filed for court protection last June, weighed down by debts from years of overspending on assets and from a sudden decline in energy demand and prices spurred by the coronavirus pandemic.
