Chesapeake reducing natural gas spending (UALR Public Radio) - Chesapeake Energy Corp. plans to cut back on the amount it spends to drill in the Fayetteville Shale and elsewhere in the country by $3.2 billion through 2010, the company announced.

The Oklahoma City-based corporation said in a news release Monday it would reduce capital expenditures by 17 percent because of a decrease in natural gas prices and concerns about the possibility of a gas surplus.

Of the total, $800 million affects the company's recent joint venture with BP America in the Fayetteville Shale in north-central Arkansas. A Chesapeake spokesman said there won't be a reduction in the number of drilling rigs operating, though. If anything, the company expects to add a few more.

Chesapeake is one of several oil and gas exploration companies drilling in the Fayetteville Shale since the underground gas reserve was deemed commercially viable in 2002.


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