NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chesapeake Energy Corp is looking to sell about 337,000 acres of its holdings in Ohio, as it works to raise money to meet an expected cash shortfall, according to a prospectus released by one of its advisers.
The holdings on the block include some in the Utica shale. The prospectus was posted on the website of Meagher Energy Advisors, an energy-focused asset acquisition and divestiture firm that has sold assets for Chesapeake in the past.
According to Meagher, Chesapeake plans to focus its development in the Utica shale on areas where its holdings are more concentrated.
It said most of the Ohio acreage on the block lies in regions where there have been high concentrations of oil and natural gas liquids. Bids are due July 11.
Chesapeake has said it will sell as much as $11.5 billion in assets this year in order to close a $9 billion to $10 billion funding shortfall. Last month, the company arranged for a pricey $4 billion loan from its investment bankers to tide it over.
It has already announced it is looking to sell its 1.5 million acres of lease holdings in the oil-rich Permian basin and a half-million acres in Wyoming and Colorado as well as find a joint venture partner in another liquids-rich region, the Mississippi Lime basin, in order to raise cash.
(Reporting By Michael Erman; Editing by Gary Hill and Gunna Dickson)
