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The Justice Department reportedly is probing Chesapeake (CHK) and Encana (ECA) for possible...
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Monday, July 2, 2012, 3:33 PM ETThe Justice Department reportedly is probing Chesapeake (CHK) and Encana (ECA) for possible collusion after a Reuters investigation showed top brass at the two rivals plotted to avoid bidding against each other in Michigan land deals. The state's AG office and Department of Natural Resources also are believed to be looking into the allegations.
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This news story has 20 comments:
Perhaps he can share a cell with Jon Corzine if regulatory investigators would ever have the brass to bring charges
Other states may want to check the "deals" they have with CHK to see if all was on the level.
Any bets that Jim Cramer stays far away from this story on Mad Money?
for land grabbing practices. That meaning that they sent their land agents out to buy up leases at real cheap prices before revealing
to land-owners that they were sitting on gold and the going rate was
25000-30000 and acre in real value. My opinion of Chesapeake is that they are crooks any way you spell it. They got rich cheating and stealing and 75% is not enough for them. They also want to steal
as much of the land owners 25% as they can cheat them out of with vague contract language.
I have no affiliation and own no stock with Chesapeake, thank God. I am a land owner though and know all about Chesapeake.
Ok, I am not fond of Chesapeake and i want to get in on the bashing. :)
You can also blame your state regulators and legislators who seem to be in bed with the oil and gas companies. Simple legislation could help the average land owners from being conned by Chesapeake and other scoundrels.
I am in Louisiana and have contacted my state Senator, hoping that he could start an investigation and create some legislation
that would protect property owners with clear contract language.
Chesapeake needs to be audited by independent auditers, from the bottom to the top and check out who their so called affiliates are. I think they pad the books and create affiliates for the purpose of making more money for themselves. Chesapeake convinced me that they are crooks, I did not start out thinking that way. Whatever happens to them that is bad, will not bring me to tears because I hate crooks and tyrants that take advantage of others to make money for themselves.
Why should CHK bid against itself. The "poor guy" at the center of all of this ONLY has 20,000 acres and wanted ECA to pay him $50 million + royalties. When ECA pulled its bid, amazingly, none of the other 9,998 drilliers in the U.S. rushed in to pay him $50 million.
Why not? If ECA and CHK were being played for suckers by this "poor, naive, hay-seed farmer," and they got smart, how come in three years he didn't "wow" some other company with all the oil? Perhaps, because there is not as much oil as thought, or the price is too high, or the infrastucture buildout is too costly, or pipelines are not available, or ???
Sorry folks, this farmer is neither poor, stupid, or taken advantage of. If he had something of real value to sell, other companies would have "beat a path to his door."
Now let's pillorize McClendon for NOT wasting shareholder money.
Hey, another idea, for you Russtrade! If it is soooo lucrative that he should have been paid $30,000 per acre, why don't you and the "farmer" rent a rig and start drilling, and get your friends, family, and Facebook friends to help. Split the profit with the rig company. That way the "poor farmer" can't be cheated and stolen from as you allege (of course, with no facts).
Note that this is not about price fixing - CHK and ECA are the buyers not the owners and sellers of the asset. If Holder gets his way then every auction other than hidden-bid auctions will be outlawed, because you can't permit buyers to interact for the purpose of price discovery. In fact no longer should the exchanges be permitted to publish bids, as that effectively permits buyers to collude.
and watch you change your diaper. Surely you cannot be serious
about the love for the way Chesapeake operates?
There is a difference in people who have ethics and those that don't. I see Chesapeake in the last of that statement.
There is way too much smoke around Chesapeake for it not to be a fire. I agree with the guy who questions the justice department investigating anyone. I guess you would call it a crook investigating a crook. Notice how shareholders are all happy, just as long as the crooked gravy-train fills their little greedy pockets with money. That is not honest. I want honest money, not money made by stealing the assets of another. That is basically Chesapeake's story.
The farmer you speak of is up north somewhere.
Maybe before you open your yap you might want to get your Factplz
in order and make them factual as to whom you are speaking to.
Try reading what I actually said before you make an error and
speak to me about something I did not address. Chesapeake did pay 25-30 thousand where I am talking about, except to those they cheated prior to announcing the Haynesville Shale.
Chesapeake and their little crooked landmen got plenty for free by fraud and that is why Lawyers in LA, TX are after them.
If they have to pay out what they owe, perhaps your little share will go down and you won't be so happy with your crooked money gain.
Perhaps if the landowners would have done their homework, checked with counsel versed in these dealings and not been a greedy..... this wouldn't be an issue today. Everyone was just wanting to get rich and stick it to the gas companies.
Look at the greed with stores and property owners renting a dumpy 1000 square foot house to a gas person for $1600 a month, how about a hotel room for $2500 a month - where was Holder and the government then? No body gave a hoot. Why do we always have to bail out those who get themselves into their own demise? It is called doing your due diligence and then thinking twice before you sign.
In our neck of the woods, the landowners only saw $$ signs. They figured that it was going to be free money - the oil people came in the 50's and signed leases and never came back - so it would be this time too. So in their greed - they signed for $25 an acre - now they are crying about it because their neighbors who waited got many times that amount and a much larger % of royalties.
Just like everything in life - you need to be ware and if you make a stupid costly mistake - it is your fault.
As a shareholder - there is lots that I don't like about CHK, but I do think that it is good business to not keep picking up leases when the price of gas is so low - did these folks pass up a lease with another company or did no one approach - suppose if CHK has to - they should pickup the lease and tie up the property with their shut in provision for $5 an acre - one can't get blood from a stone and perhaps people should realize that.
Holder investigating anything is like the fox guarding the hen house - too bad Congress can't investigate the DOJ and .......
Well that sums it up for Chesapeake because they keep getting sued for their poor business practices making stupid costly mistakes in figuring that they can con all the people all the time.
Some of the people cannot afford to sue them, but others have the means and do. Chesapeake is getting what they deserve. Boo hoo to you share-holders, same rule applies to you. You invest on greedy hopes and the vehicle you choose is even more greedy, so that's YOUR stupid costly mistake.