Chesapeake Energy Corporation Provides Details on Its Financial Plan for 2012

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) today provided details on its
financial plan to fully fund the company′s anticipated capital
expenditures during 2012 and provide additional liquidity for 2013. The
company is also projecting that its rapidly increasing liquids
production will enable it in 2014 to reach equilibrium between its cash
flow from operations and its planned drilling and completion capital
expenditures.

First, Chesapeake anticipates receiving total proceeds in the next 60
days of approximately $2 billion in two separate transactions. The
company plans to complete a volumetric production payment on its Texas
Panhandle Granite Wash assets and a financial transaction (similar to
the company′s recent CHK Utica financial transaction) by a new
unrestricted subsidiary formed to hold a portion of Chesapeake′s assets
in Ellis and Roger Mills counties, Oklahoma, in the Cleveland and
Tonkawa plays.

In addition, the company is pursuing joint venture transactions in its
Mississippi Lime and Permian Basin plays where it owns 1.8 million and
1.5 million net acres of leasehold, respectively. Chesapeake has also
recently received industry inquiries about a complete exit from the
Permian Basin and today is announcing that it may consider a 100% sale
of its Permian Basin assets if it receives a compelling offer.
Chesapeake′s acreage ownership in the Permian Basin is one of the six
largest in the Permian Basin, with leading positions in the Bone Spring,
Avalon, Wolfcamp and Wolfberry plays. Chesapeake′s assets in the Permian
Basin represent approximately 5% of the company′s total net proved
reserves and current production. Chesapeake believes the Mississippi
Lime joint venture, a Permian Basin transaction and various other minor
asset sales could result in cash proceeds to Chesapeake of approximately
$6-8 billion in 2012. The company is targeting completion of these
transactions by the end of the 2012 third quarter.

Furthermore, Chesapeake anticipates monetization proceeds of
approximately $2 billion during 2012 involving a portion of its
midstream assets, service company assets and miscellaneous investments,
bringing estimated total monetization cash proceeds in 2012 to $10-12
billion. These proceeds are substantially in excess of the difference
between the company′s expected cash flow from operations and its planned
capital expenditures and would allow the company to achieve its
previously announced debt reduction goals while providing additional
financial strength during this current period of low U.S. natural gas
prices.

Finally, as part of its ongoing liability management strategy,
Chesapeake today announced plans to issue $1 billion of Senior Notes due
2019 in a public offering, the proceeds of which will be used to
refinance or partially refinance other shorter dated maturities later in
the year and for general corporate purposes. Chesapeake affirms its goal
to reduce its long-term debt to no more than $9.5 billion at December
31, 2012, and anticipates achieving investment grade metrics of net
long-term debt per thousand cubic feet of natural gas equivalent proved
reserves of less than $0.50 and net long-term debt to total
capitalization of less than 35% by year-end 2012. Chesapeake plans to
provide updated production and capital expenditure forecasts in
conjunction with the release of its 2011 fourth quarter and full year
financial and operational results on February 21, 2012.

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) is the second-largest
producer of natural gas, a Top 15 producer of oil and natural gas
liquids and the most active driller of new wells in the U.S.Headquartered
in Oklahoma City, the company's operations are focused on discovering
and developing unconventional natural gas and oil fields onshore in the
U.S.Chesapeake owns leading positions in the Barnett,
Haynesville, Bossier, Marcellus and Pearsall natural gas shale plays and
in the Granite Wash, Cleveland, Tonkawa, Mississippi Lime, Bone Spring,
Avalon, Wolfcamp, Wolfberry, Eagle Ford, Niobrara, Three Forks/Bakken
and Utica unconventional liquids plays.The company has
also vertically integrated its operations and owns substantial
midstream, compression, drilling, trucking, pressure pumping and other
oilfield service assets directly and indirectly through its subsidiaries
Chesapeake Midstream Development, L.P. and Chesapeake Oilfield Services,
L.L.C. and its affiliate Chesapeake Midstream Partners, L.P. (NYSE:CHKM).Further information is available at www.chk.com
where Chesapeake routinely posts announcements, updates, events,
investor information, presentations and news releases.

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements give our
current expectations or forecasts of future events. They include
assumptions regarding future estimated debt levels and credit metrics,
projected cash flows and liquidity, anticipated asset monetizations,
sales, joint ventures and strategic investment transactions, achievement
of our debt reduction goal and our ability to fund our capital
expenditures. While we expect that the proceeds from the transactions
described in this news release will be sufficient to fund our capital
expenditures, we do not have binding agreements for any of these
transactions, and our ability to consummate each of these transactions
and their timing are subject to market conditions and other factors.
Furthermore, achieving our proved reserve target depends on the success
of our drilling program, commodity prices throughout the year and other
factors beyond our control. Although Chesapeake believes the
expectations and forecasts reflected in these forward-looking statements
are reasonable, it can give no assurance they will prove to have been
correct. They can be affected by inaccurate assumptions or by known or
unknown risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of the risks that
could cause actual results to differ from those projected, please see
the 'Risks Factors' discussion in the prospectus supplement we filed
today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We caution you
not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements, which
speak only as of the date of this news release, and we undertake no
obligation to update this information.

Chesapeake Energy Corporation

Investor Relations:

Jeffrey L.
Mobley, CFA, 405-767-4763

jeff.mobley@chk.com

or

John
J. Kilgallon, 405-935-4441

john.kilgallon@chk.com

or

Media
Relations:

Michael Kehs, 405-935-2560

michael.kehs@chk.com

or

Jim
Gipson, 405-935-1310

jim.gipson@chk.com