Look at where the rigs are. The rigs produce future income. This is public information available in 2018 guidance. Seems like EF & Rockies are more than likely very safe. Utica, Haynesville, and Marcellus don't have many rigs. If an ENTIRE asset is sold, it will likely be one of these. Haynesville seems a likely candidate given the story that came out about a potential sale to Tellurian, however problem is Tellurian doesn't have cash, CHK needs cash. So.... makes it tough. With the huge ramp up in LNG exports set to occur over the next 18 months, IMHO Haynseville is likely desired by an LNG company wishing to vertically integrate. Problem is, LNG companies have to take on insane amounts of debt to build their facilities, so an LNG exporter doesn't seem likely in the short term. Doug has said many times that any asset is for sale for a price that is fair. I think problem is most E&P's right now don't have the cash to buy anything. Everyone has been in survival mode for the past 4 years and is focusing on streamlining their operations instead of grabbing more land. It honestly seems more likely that a foreign government... China/Korea/Japan would want to invest in the upstream gas assets to protect against the price inflation and secure LNG supplies. China has already stated they want to buy $70 billion of LNG to narrow the trade gap with US. CHK Execs hinted at a "non traditional" buyer showing interest in some of our assets an earnings call or two ago. However, given the political climate in DC, a foreign government buying assets would be a tough sell. Perhaps a JV with the People's Republic of China is more likely than selling to US E&P? Who knows. Good news about a foreign company investing with us is that they'll need the same people to operate the assets, as Doug stated recently, our Capex to energy BOE ratio is extremely good. Hardly anybody gets as much ENERGY as we do for the amount we have to invest. We just have too much debt that results in not creating enough free cash flow and profit.
Excellent post by @Tx02gPx-3jqs.