OREANDA-NEWS. Chesapeake Energy, which is considered to be one of the pioneers in the US oil shale industry, has filed for bankruptcy.

“Chesapeake Energy Corporation… today announced that the Company has voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas… to facilitate a comprehensive balance sheet restructuring,” the statement published on the website of the company reads.

The corporation’s debt amounted to about 7 billion US dollars. Under an agreement with creditors, Chesapeake Energy will receive a loan of 925 million dollars. In addition, lenders and holders of secured bills will allocate 600 million dollars to it.

The newspaper New York Times wrote that since the beginning of this year, about 20 American oil and gas producers, including Ultra Petroleum and Whiting Petroleum, have declared bankruptcy.