YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Chesapeake Energy Corp. has posted on its website an extensive response to a highly critical article published March 1st by Rolling Stone Magazine. Says the company’s vice president of communications, Jim Gipson, “Portions of the article were most egregious in their misrepresentations or inaccuracies of our company.”
The article is titled “The Big Fracking Bubble: The Scam Behind the Gas Boom.” The story suggests something of a Ponzi scheme, and takes to task Chesapeake’s CEO, Aubrey McClendon.
“Like generations of energy kingpins before him, it would seem, McClendon's primary goal is not to solve America's energy problems, but to build a pipeline directly from your wallet into his,” writes the reporter, Jeff Goodell.
Chesapeake published its response, an open letter to employees and shareholders, on its website Saturday.
In part, the company's letter states: “When we were first contacted by Rolling Stone and looked at the writer’s prior work, blog posts, and tweets, we figured we’d never get a fair shake and suggested he talk to other industry groups to get a perspective on natural gas. But when he declared his intention to write a story focused on our company and Aubrey – with or without our cooperation – we decided that providing the full transparency that the media and our critics so often demand from our industry would potentially result in a more honest and fact-based story. Although our expectations for honesty and fairness were quite low, the writer failed to reach even that low bar.”
CLICK HERE to read Chesapeake’s full response.
CLICK HERE to read the Rolling Stone story.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.