In conjunction with its 2008 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, Chesapeake Energy Corporation provides an update on its activities in its significant Haynesville Shale discovery in Northwest Louisiana and East Texas.

In the past month, the company has successfully completed two additional horizontal wells in the play at flow rates comparable to its first four horizontal wells and the company anticipates completing two more horizontal wells by the end of June. The company now owns or has commitments for approximately 500,000 net acres of leasehold in the Haynesville Shale and has achieved its initial leasehold ownership goal.

As a result of ongoing drilling success in the play, the company has elected to continue its leasehold acquisition efforts. Chesapeake is currently using five operated rigs to further develop its Haynesville Shale leasehold and anticipates operating at least 12 rigs by year-end 2008 and at least 30 rigs by year-end 2009.

Aubrey K. McClendon, Chesapeake's Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We are pleased to report further success in our Haynesville Shale discovery. Our technical analysis of the play over the past two years combined with the impressive drilling results on our first six horizontal wells and wells recently drilled by others in the industry continue to support our assessment that the Haynesville Shale play could potentially have a larger impact on the company than any other play in which we have participated to date. We plan to accelerate our drilling activity in the play to generate substantial production growth and capture outstanding financial returns available in the current attractive natural gas price environment."

Tags: Chesapeake Energy Corporation