Chesapeake Energy plans to sell $5B in assets

NEW YORK (AP) -- Chesapeake Energy Corp. says it will sell all of its Fayetteville Shale assets and investments in two companies.

Chesapeake says it hopes to bring in more than $5 billion from the sales and will use the proceeds to reduce its debt. Chesapeake Energy says it plans to reduce its debt by 25 percent by 2012.

The Fayetteville shale is a natural gas field in central Arkansas, and Chesapeake Energy is the second largest producer of natural gas from the formation.

The Oklahoma City company says it will sell its 25.8 percent stake in Frac Tech Holdings LLC and its 20 percent interest in Chaparral Energy Inc.