Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NasdaqGS:CHK) is in advanced talks to acquire privately owned natural gas producer Chief Oil & Gas LLC for around $2.4 billion, including debt, people familiar with the matter said on January 19, 2022. A deal for Chief Oil & Gas, founded and controlled by Texan 'wildcatter' Trevor Rees-Jones, could be announced as soon as this week, the sources said. In wildcat drilling, exploration wells are dug in areas not known to be natural resource fields.

The acquisition by Chesapeake, a U.S. shale gas and oil producer that only emerged from bankruptcy just last year, underscores the recovery of parts of the energy industry as natural resource prices surge to multi-year highs. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private information, cautioned that negotiations could still fall apart at the last moment. A Chief Oil & Gas spokesperson declined to comment.

Chesapeake did not immediately respond to a request for comment.