/1 As we get ready for the $CHK obituaries, a few thoughts on the company, Aubrey, & the end of Shale 1.0. In a couple of decades, history will regard Aubrey as a visionary more than a risk-taker (though he was certainly that) & will come to realize (cont’d) #OOTT #EFT #Oil

/2 the role he played in contributing to American economic growth & geo-political dominance. A stretch? NO. The economic tailwinds of lower domestic energy prices thanks to shale & horizontal drilling aided the recovery from the Financial Crisis dramatically & kept energy costs

/3 from being astronomical. Remember Nat Gas volatility before the Marcellus? Remember having to tap the SPR in spring 2011 due to Libya turmoil? Without shale & widespread use of fracking, oil could have easily eclipsed prior record highs in 2011-2014. Instead, one of the

/4 largest economic expansions in history has been subsidized, in part, through affordable US end-user energy costs. The role of $CHK & Aubrey in that transition cannot be overstated. Was Aubrey hypomanic, impulsive, prone to overspending on Land, over-levering both $CHK & his

/5 personal Balance Sheet? Of course. But we needed Aubrey & Chesapeake. Someone to be the Corporate equivalent of the Booster Rocket, charging headlong into Play after Play, from the Haynesviile to AEP-Utica to Vaca Muerta. That $CHK failed in its initial corporate iteration

/6 is irrelevant in the Long-Run, painful as the equity wipeout will no doubt be for some. Shale will survive this Bust: leaner, ever more efficient, stacked pay intact. Are there bad management teams, sh*tty PE Funds, OFS Financial maniacs? Yes. But that won’t matter in the

/7 Long Run, either. What *will* matter in hindsight is that for the first half of the 21st-Century America benefitted tremendously from the vision, risk-taking, & yes, Avarice, of ppl like Aubrey & CO’s like Chesapeake. Don’t forget that when the BK Filing becomes official. $CHK