Chesapeake Shifting ‘Couple Hundred’ Jobs Out of Barnett Shale

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) will shift a “couple hundred” jobs out of Fort Worth, Texas, as drilling in the Barnett shale formation slows.

Chesapeake’s contractor force will be reduced, and no Fort Worth layoffs have been announced, Michael Kehs, a spokesman for Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake said in a telephone interview. Jobs will be shifted to formations that produce more petroleum liquids.

“We are committed to our people and doing everything we can to find a place within the company where they can put their skills to use,” Kehs said.

Gas for next-month delivery fell 0.1 percent to $2.421 a million British thermal units today in New York. At that price, it’s six times cheaper than oil on an energy-equivalent basis.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Carroll in Chicago at jcarroll8@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Susan Warren at susanwarren@bloomberg.net