Chesapeake Gets All-Clear From U.S. in Shale Accounting Probe

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Department of Justice closed an investigation into how Chesapeake Energy Corp. accounted for oil and natural gas assets without taking any enforcement action.

Justice Department officials communicated the decision orally to Chesapeake on June 20, the Oklahoma City-based shale driller said in a public filing on Thursday. On July 17, the Securities and Exchange Commission informed the company by letter that it also was dropping the case.

Gordon Pennoyer, a Chesapeake spokesman, declined to comment beyond the contents of the filing.

Chesapeake's stock plunged more than 9 percent on Sept. 29 after disclosing a Justice Department subpoena to turn over information on accounting methodology for oil and gas acquisitions. At that point, the company had taken $16 billion in impairments on its fields because of low energy prices.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Carroll in Chicago at jcarroll8@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net, Jim Efstathiou Jr., Carlos Caminada