Chesapeake to Launch Online Channel
Posted on: Wednesday, 23 July 2008, 00:00 CDT
By GEORGE HOHMANN
Chesapeake Energy Corp. this fall will launch www.Shale.TV, an online video channel to promote the benefits of natural gas production, according to several news reports.
The move comes as Chesapeake faces growing opposition as it drills for natural gas in a field known as the Barnett Shale in some heavily populated areas around Fort Worth, Texas, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Chesapeake also is drilling in a massive natural gas field known as the Marcellus Shale in West Virginia and several other Appalachian states.
The company has hired actor Tommy Lee Jones, a Texas native, to star in Texas television advertisements urging people there to "Get behind the Barnett," and recently aired a half-hour infomercial in Texas about the economic benefits of natural gas production, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that www. Shale.TV has hired Tracy Rowlett, a long-time Fort Worth television news anchor, to serve as the site's anchor and managing editor.
Chesapeake Vice President Julie Wilson told The Wall Street Journal, "We've moved from an old oil-field environment where we and our peer companies have been operating for years, if not decades, to a municipal environment. It's a whole new ballgame."
Wilson told the Star-Telegram, "This is not a corporate promotion or public relations initiative. We have heard repeatedly and consistently from residents, critics, supporters, lessors, city staff, government officials, and civic leaders about the lack of consumer-friendly educational information available to the public about issues and opportunities related to natural gas drilling, production, and pipelines, particularly as they relate to an urban environment.
"We have listened and now we are responding by providing a forum for in-depth, independent discussions and analyses of these complex issues and opportunities," she said.
"We will focus initially on the Barnett Shale and later add content on other emerging shale plays throughout the U.S."
A "play" is industry jargon for an oil or natural gas field.
Two journalists hired to work on the Web site told The Journal that Chesapeake has promised them the company won't meddle.
The journalists said they plan to include Chesapeake's competitors and opponents in their stories.
The Web site says, "Shale.TV is a unique, online video channel designed to provide a platform for in-depth information, discussion and analyses about the Barnett Shale and other shale natural gas plays in the U.S.
"Through a combination of live talk/interview shows and interactive and archived content, we hope to provide thorough, accurate and independent information about the complex issues and opportunities of developing natural gas domestically. We seek participation from all the stakeholders in these shale plays."
The Journal said, "One obvious question about Shale.TV is whether viewers will take seriously something that is fully funded by a company with a strong interest in the outcome of the debate that will be at the center of almost all of its coverage."
The Dallas Morning News' Steve Blow, in a column headlined, "Shale.TV sounds more like Shill.TV," questioned who will watch the programming.
Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake has made a lot of headline news in West Virginia since 2005, when it bought Columbia Natural Resources for $2.2 billion and instantly became the largest natural gas exploration and production company in the state.
As the owner of Columbia Natural Resources, Chesapeake inherited a role as a defendant in a class-action lawsuit that charged it and NiSource Inc. with cheating landowners. In early 2007 a Roane County jury said the companies should pay $134.3 million in allegedly unpaid gas royalties to landowners plus $270 million in punitive damages.
The company also made headlines when Gov. Joe Manchin announced during his January 2006 State of the State speech that Chesapeake would make Charleston its Eastern Division headquarters. The company announced it would invest up to $35 million to build a futuristic office building at NorthGate Business Park. But Chesapeake put its plans on hold following the Roane County jury verdict and in May, after the West Virginia Supreme Court refused to hear its appeal, Chesapeake made headlines again when it scrapped the building plan.
Chesapeake also was in the news in March 2007 when it was revealed that that the company was behind a massive "Coal is Filthy" advertising campaign in Texas. The campaign was designed to persuade Texas officials to favor natural gas over coal in their public policy decisions.
The anti-coal advertisements provoked criticism in the West Virginia coalfields, where many residents view coal as a source of livelihood. Chesapeake repeatedly said the Texas ads were never aimed at West Virginia. The company dropped its support for the ads in April 2007.
In addition to the headline news, Chesapeake has an ongoing dispute with United Steelworkers Locals 628 and 372. The union, which represents 143 Chesapeake employees in southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky, has been without a contract since Dec. 1, 2006.
The company declared an impasse in negotiations and, on Feb. 1, implemented the terms of its final offer. A federal National Labor Relations Board regional director dismissed the union's unfair labor practices complaint. The union's appeal is pending.
Contact writer George Hohmann at business@dailymail.com or 348- 4836.
Originally published by DAILY MAIL BUSINESS EDITOR.
(c) 2008 Charleston Daily Mail. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
Source: Charleston Daily Mail
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