據(jù)油價(jià)網(wǎng)2021年8月15日?qǐng)?bào)道，美國(guó)頁(yè)巖行業(yè)先驅(qū)之一的切薩皮克能源公司，在通過一項(xiàng)重大收購(gòu)協(xié)議從破產(chǎn)中復(fù)蘇6個(gè)月以后重新開始運(yùn)營(yíng)，這標(biāo)志著切薩皮克能源公司重返路易斯安那州的頁(yè)巖氣盆地。

　　盡管這一舉動(dòng)已被廣泛預(yù)期，但切薩皮克能源公司是去年年中申請(qǐng)破產(chǎn)的美國(guó)頁(yè)巖公司中最知名的能源公司之一。

　　如今，這家轉(zhuǎn)型后的頁(yè)巖氣先鋒將收購(gòu)Vine 能源公司，后者在路易斯安那州西北部的超壓堆疊的海恩斯維爾和中博西爾頁(yè)巖遠(yuǎn)景區(qū)開發(fā)天然氣資源。切薩皮克能源公司本周表示，此次收購(gòu)為零溢價(jià)交易，價(jià)值約22億美元。

　　《福布斯》記者克里斯托弗·赫爾曼指出，此次收購(gòu)將使這家美國(guó)頁(yè)巖巨頭成為海恩斯維爾頁(yè)巖遠(yuǎn)景區(qū)的最大天然氣生產(chǎn)商，頁(yè)巖氣日產(chǎn)量約為15億立方英尺，可供鉆探的地點(diǎn)有數(shù)百個(gè)。

　　隨著收購(gòu)Vine能源公司，新切薩皮克能源公司將加倍下注頁(yè)巖氣和海恩斯維爾頁(yè)巖遠(yuǎn)景區(qū)。切薩皮克能源公司曾在2015年和2016年出售了其在海恩斯維爾盆地的許多資產(chǎn)，旨在壓低其巨額債務(wù)，然而，巨大債務(wù)最終還是迫使切薩皮克能源公司在2020年宣布破產(chǎn)。

　　切薩皮克能源公司董事會(huì)主席兼臨時(shí)首席執(zhí)行官M(fèi)ike Wichterich表示：“這筆交易加強(qiáng)了切薩皮克能源公司的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)地位，顯著增加了我們的自由現(xiàn)金流前景，深化了我們優(yōu)質(zhì)天然氣的庫(kù)存，同時(shí)保持了我們的資產(chǎn)負(fù)債表的實(shí)力。”

　　Wichterich補(bǔ)充說：““通過整合海恩斯維爾頁(yè)巖遠(yuǎn)景區(qū)，擁有規(guī)模和運(yùn)營(yíng)經(jīng)驗(yàn)的切薩皮克能源公司能夠迅速成為墨西哥灣沿岸和海外高端市場(chǎng)的主要天然氣供應(yīng)商。”

　　切薩皮克能源公司對(duì)Vine能源公司的收購(gòu)反映了美國(guó)頁(yè)巖行業(yè)的兩大趨勢(shì)。 首先，這是合并正在進(jìn)行的整合浪潮。 其次，由于今年大宗商品價(jià)格的上漲，許多公司都在進(jìn)行自我改造，用現(xiàn)金流來償還債務(wù)。或者，就切薩皮克能源公司而言，他們?cè)谄飘a(chǎn)重組后，擁有了新的管理層，并對(duì)如何在不陷入債務(wù)的情況下開展業(yè)務(wù)有了新的看法。

　　2020年，危機(jī)和低天然氣價(jià)格使得切薩皮克能源公司成為主要受害者，切薩皮克能源公司在6月份申請(qǐng)了破產(chǎn)保護(hù)。 分析人士表示，這一特殊申請(qǐng)要等很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間。

　　伍德麥肯茲上游團(tuán)隊(duì)首席分析師Alex Beeker當(dāng)時(shí)表示：“如果我用一個(gè)詞來形容切薩皮克能源公司的話，那就是‘過度’——過度的負(fù)債、過度的成本、供過于求市場(chǎng)上的天然氣供應(yīng)過度。”

　　切薩皮克能源公司是美國(guó)頁(yè)巖公司“自取滅亡”的典型代表，在今年1月份脫離破產(chǎn)保護(hù)。

　　今年第二季度，切薩皮克能源公司產(chǎn)生了3.94億美元的運(yùn)營(yíng)現(xiàn)金流，第二季度末手頭有6.12億美元的現(xiàn)金。

　　Wichterich稱，該公司“不再是過去的切薩皮克能源公司”，并向投資者保證，在海恩斯維爾的交易中，切薩皮克能源公司不會(huì)為Vine能源公司多支付錢。

　　“我們擁有超穩(wěn)定的資產(chǎn)負(fù)債表，”這位高管在接受路透社采訪時(shí)表示。 “我們的語(yǔ)氣和態(tài)度有些不同，”他補(bǔ)充道。

　　在切薩皮克-Vine收購(gòu)海恩斯維爾盆地的兩個(gè)月前，西南能源公司表示將以約27億美元價(jià)格收購(gòu)海恩斯維爾盆地生產(chǎn)商Indigo 自然資源公司，這表明海恩斯維爾盆地的整合已經(jīng)開始。

　　增加了Vine能源公司之后，切薩皮克能源公司在海恩斯維爾盆地又轉(zhuǎn)了一整圈。 5年前，切薩皮克能源公司通過多筆交易出售了ArkLaTex投資組合的很大一部分。 但現(xiàn)在有了Vine能源公司，切薩皮克能源公司將以超過15億立方英尺/天的頁(yè)巖氣產(chǎn)量重新成為海恩斯維爾盆地最大的頁(yè)巖氣生產(chǎn)商。”

　　伍德麥肯茲對(duì)切薩皮克能源公司在新的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)層和財(cái)務(wù)狀況改善后在運(yùn)營(yíng)方面變得更加激進(jìn)并不感到意外。

　　伍德麥肯茲說：“我們并不驚訝切薩皮克能源公司通過并購(gòu)在其最好的資產(chǎn)之一上加倍下注。”

　　本周的交易使切薩皮克能源公司成為與先鋒自然資源公司和EQT能源公司一樣，擁有“盆地主導(dǎo)”增長(zhǎng)戰(zhàn)略的美國(guó)頁(yè)巖企業(yè)之一。“這是投資者可以充滿信心地支持的交易。 節(jié)約成本的問題也得到了更清晰的理解。”

　　李峻 編譯自 油價(jià)網(wǎng)

　　原文如下：

　　The Shale Pioneer Preparing For A Comeback

　　One of the U.S. shale pioneers, Chesapeake Energy, is back in business six months after emerging from bankruptcy with a major acquisition— marking its return to the shale gas basin in Louisiana.

　　Chesapeake Energy was one of the most prominent names in the U.S. shale patch to file for bankruptcy in the middle of last year, although the move had been widely expected.

　　Now the reinvented shale gas pioneer is buying Vine Energy, which develops natural gas properties in the over-pressured stacked Haynesville and Mid-Bossier shale plays in Northwest Louisiana. The acquisition is a zero premium transaction valued at approximately $2.2 billion, Chesapeake Energy said this week.

　　The acquisition will make the shale giant the top gas producer in Haynesville, with around 1.5 billion cubic feet per day of production and hundreds of locations to drill, Forbes reporter Christopher Helman notes.

　　With the acquisition of Vine Energy, the new Chesapeake Energy is doubling down on shale gas and on Haynesville, half a decade after selling many of its assets in the basin in 2015 and 2016 as it was weighed down by enormous debts, which ultimately forced it to declare bankruptcy last year.

　　"This transaction strengthens Chesapeake's competitive position, meaningfully increasing our free cash flow outlook and deepening our inventory of premium gas locations while preserving the strength of our balance sheet," Mike Wichterich, Chesapeake's Board Chairman and Interim CEO, said.

　　"By consolidating the Haynesville, Chesapeake has the scale and operating expertise to quickly become the dominant supplier of responsibly sourced gas to premium markets in the Gulf Coast and abroad," the executive added.

　　Chesapeake Energy's acquisition is indicative of two major trends in U.S. shale. First, it's the ongoing consolidation wave in the patch. And second, many firms are reinventing themselves and pay down debt with cash flows as commodity prices rose this year, or, in Chesapeake's case, emerge from Chapter 11 restructuring with a new management and a new outlook on how to do business without drowning in debt.

　　In 2020, the crisis and the low natural gas prices claimed as a prominent victim as Chesapeake, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June. Analysts said this particular filing was a long time coming.

　　"If I were to describe Chesapeake in one word, that word is 'excess' - excess liabilities, excess costs, excess gas in an oversupplied market," Alex Beeker, principal analyst on Wood Mackenzie's corporate upstream team, said at the time.

　　Chesapeake, the poster child of U.S. shale firms "drilling themselves to oblivion," emerged from Chapter 11 in January this year.

　　For the second quarter of 2021, the company generated $394 million of operating cash flow and ended the quarter with $612 million cash on hand.

　　The firm is "no longer the Chesapeake of the past," Wichterich said, assuring investors it is not overpaying for Vine in the Haynesville deal.

　　"We have a super-stable balance sheet," the executive told Reuters in an interview. "There is a tone that is a little different and attitude that is a little different," he added.

　　The Chesapeake-Vine deal in the Haynesville basin comes two months after Southwestern Energy said it would buy Haynesville producer Indigo Natural Resources for around $2.7 billion, suggesting that consolidation in the basin has started.

　　"Adding Vine brings Chesapeake full circle in the Haynesville. The company sold off a large portion of its ArkLaTex portfolio in multiple deals five years ago. But now with Vine, Chesapeake will return to being the largest Haynesville producer, at over 1.5 bcfd," Wood Mackenzie analysts said, commenting on the deal.

　　WoodMac isn't surprised that Chesapeake became more aggressive in operations with its new leadership and refreshed financials.

　　"[W] e're not surprised to see the company doubling down on one of its best assets through M&A.

　　This week's deal makes Chesapeake one of the U.S. shale firms with a 'basin dominance' growth strategy, alongside Pioneer and EQT.

　　"And this is the kind of deal investors can support with confidence. The cost savings are more clearly understood," WoodMac said.

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