NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chesapeake Energy has given up a two-year legal fight to retain thousands of acres of natural gas drilling leases in New York state, landowner and legal sources told Reuters.
Landowners in Broome and Tioga counties, who had leased acreage to Chesapeake over the past decade, had battled the pioneering oil driller in court to prevent it from extending the leases under their original terms, many of which were agreed to long before a boom in hydraulic fracturing swept the United States.
But Chesapeake is now ready to walk away from the leases, according to a letter some landowners received two weeks ago from their attorney at Levene Gouldin & Thompson, potentially allowing the landowners to renegotiate new deals with other drillers at a higher rate, if New York state eventually ends a five-year fracking ban.
The decision, expected to be finalized next week, is a sign of energy firms' growing frustration over operating in the Empire State, where most drilling is on hold, and also an indication of how Chesapeake is reining in spending after years of aggressive acreage buying left it with towering debt.
"Chesapeake contacted us and offered to withdraw Chesapeake's appeal and provide complete release of the leases," attorneys from Levene Gouldin & Thompson said in a letter to one of their clients, a landowner. The letter dated July 26 was read over the phone to Reuters.
ti shi yin du huan cheng liao pi sheng er
jing yi dai bi ti yi ，ban shang suo you tong xue ba duan xin ti shi yin du huan cheng liao pi sheng er ，
tao yan de zheng zhi lao shi gang zou jin jiao shi ，na dai bi shun jian yong shou ji lai liao yi tiao qun fa 。
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