Coverage: McClendon, former Chesapeake Energy CEO, dies in crash

Oil pioneer and former Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon, 56, died Wednesday after his car crashed into a barricade in Oklahoma City just one day after he was indicted by the U.S. Justice Department on conspiracy charges.

McClendon was known for his charismatic personality and often risky use of money, but colleagues say it was for these reasons that he was so successful.

Clifford Krauss of The New York Times had the Wednesday’s surprising news:

Aubrey McClendon was the face of the nation’s natural gas boom, a swashbuckling innovator who pioneered a shale revolution.

He built a fortune as head of Chesapeake Energy, whose embrace of new production techniques unlocked previously untapped deposits and helped wean the United States from ever-increasing dependence on imports.

But late Tuesday, he was indicted on federal bid-rigging charges accusing him of conspiring to suppress prices for oil and natural gas leases. And on Wednesday morning, he died in a crash in Oklahoma City after his car hit a bridge at high speed. Mr. McClendon, 56, was to have appeared in court later in the day.

“He was charismatic and a true American entrepreneur,” said T. Boone Pickens, a legendary oilman himself, who knew Mr. McClendon for 25 years. “No individual is without flaws, but his impact on American energy will be long-lasting.”

Even in a business known for bigger-than-life executives, Mr. McClendon was a mythical character. His interests went far beyond the oil patch, including part ownerships of the Oklahoma City Thunder professional basketball team and a winery in Bordeaux, France. He bragged about his $12 million antique map collection.

Bradley Olson, Ryan Dezember and Erin Ailworth of The Wall Street Journal explained the circumstances of McClendon’s death:

Oklahoma City police said Wednesday that Mr. McClendon was found dead after driving into a concrete wall around 9 a.m. at a speed well above the 40-mph hour limit for the area. He was alone in the car.

Mr. McClendon was survived by his wife, Katie, and three children. He was 56.

Authorities were trying to determine whether the crash was the cause of death, or whether a health problem had figured in the accident. Police said it would take one to two weeks to complete their investigation.

“The vehicle was immediately engulfed in flames,” said Capt. Paco Balderrama, of the Oklahoma City Police Department. “It appears that speed was most definitely a factor in the fatality.”

Drew Harwell and Steven Mufson of The Washington Post detailed McClendon’s long career in the oil industry:

McClendon was born into the business. He was an Oklahoma City native, and his great-uncle was Robert Kerr, former Oklahoma governor and U.S. senator and co-founder of the oil and gas company Kerr-McGee, according to “The Frackers” by Gregory Zuckerman. He went to Duke University, then returned to Oklahoma and went into the drilling business.

Thanks to pioneering drillers like McClendon, shale-gas production in the United States soared from 1.3 trillion cubic feet in 2007 to 13.4 trillion cubic feet in 2014, according to the Energy Information Administration. But natural gas prices have plunged, hovering around $2 per thousand cubic feet. Chesapeake’s stock closed Wednesday at $3.40 a share, far below its $62.39 peak in June 2008.

McClendon was already off on his new venture, American Energy Partners, in 2013, following the same model of borrowing heavily to finance rapid expansion in the hope that rising prices would cover the risk. The company’s assets included natural gas prospects from Pennsylvania’s vast Marcellus Shale to Argentina’s Vaca Muerta formation.

In Oklahoma City, the headquarters of Chesapeake Energy’s 20-acre corporate campus, the energy giant’s name still adorns the Chesapeake Energy Arena, the Thunder’s 18,000-seat downtown stadium.

McClendon, who [J. Robinson] West said was a regular contributor to the Episcopal church and owned an extensive wine collection, could often be seen watching games from courtside seats.

McClendon “was the quintessential land man and promoter,” West said. “And he was brilliant at it. He saw the opportunity and he ran with it, but somebody else got screwed.”