Chesapeake Energy Corporation (CHK), SandRidge Energy Inc. (SD): Five Companies That Brought Down Peak Oil

Peak Oil is dead — or at least the website dedicated to educating the world on the theory is, as the popular Oil Drum website will cease publishing new content at end of the month. The theory just doesn’t seem to have much relevance these days, when North America is in the midst of a massive energy production boom. While we are a long way from celebrating Energy Independence Day, we’ve at least pushed back the date when Peak Oil will again become a major topic of conversation. With that as context, let’s look at five of the companies that have made Peak Oil no longer relevant.

Oil production hasn’t dried up as fast as once thought. Photo credit: Flickr

The nation’s No. 2 natural gas producer is really the main company to point the finger at when it comes to bringing down Peak Oil. In discovering many of the top unconventional natural gas plays, the company’s prolific use of fracking technology helped spark the move into oil and liquids production from shale. Today, Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) is focused on balancing its production by increasing the amount of unconventional oil it produces. That focus led to 22% year-over-year increase in oil production for the company, as it has developed its acreage in the Eagle Ford, Granite Wash, and Mississippi Lime. Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) has a massive inventory of future wells, which should keep it very busy over the next decade.

Speaking of the Mississippian, SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE:SD)
is one of the biggest advocates of that emerging oil play. The company expects the play to deliver 64% year-over-year oil production growth, which will enable its total oil production to grow by 19% this year. SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE:SD) has leased about 1.85 million net acres in the Mississippian, which gives it more than a decade of oil production growth opportunities.