American Energy Partners — Eagle Ford Shale News

Chesapeake Before Texas High Court — Chesapeake Energy to Arbitrate with Aubrey McClendon.

A district court judge in Oklahoma has ordered Chesapeake Energy to enter arbitration in an attempt to settle its dispute with American Energy Partners.

In a lawsuit filed in February, Chesapeake accused its former CEO, Aubrey McClendon, of stealing important trade secrets before leaving the company in 2013 and then using the confidential information to build American Energy Partners.

Attorneys for American Energy accused Chesapeake of using gimmicks to stay out of arbitration and Judge Thomas Prince agreed. Prince granted the request for arbitration, though it is unclear when it will begin.

“Chesapeake cannot escape its contractual commitment to arbitrate through the procedural gimmick of leaving Mr. McClendon’s name off.”

— American Energy

Last week, Chesapeake Energy reported 2015 first quarter loss of$3.8 billion. In spite of huge losses, CEO Yet Doug Lawler remained upbeat and focused on Chesapeake’s innovations.

Chesapeake is active all across the Eagle Ford including Atascosa County, Dimmit County, Duval County, Frio County, Goliad County, LaSalle County, McMullen County, Washington County, Webb County and Zavala County.

Chesapeake Eagle Ford Acreage - Drilling Map — Chesapeake Eagle Ford Drilling Map

Chesapeake Energy, a major producer in the Eagle Ford, has filed a lawsuit against former CEO Aubrey McClendon’s new company, American Energy Partners. The suit alleges McClendon stole confidential documents including maps of oil and gas prospects before leaving the company in 2013.

The suit was filed on Tuesday in Oklahoma County District Court and relies on a forensic audit of Mr. McClendon’s emails that are said to contain evidence of wrongdoing.

“It is beyond belief that the company that I co-founded 25 years ago and where I worked tirelessly to build it into one of America’s largest and most successful oil-and-gas producers has now decided to add insult to injury almost two years to the day after my resignation by wrongly accusing me of misappropriating information.”

— Mr. McClendon

McClendon founded Chesapeake in 1989 and came under scrutiny multiple times throughout the past several years as his position magnified. He was named one of the few eagle Ford Billionaires in 2013.