Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ Comstock Resources is in talks to buy Chesapeake Energy Corp’s Haynesville shale assets in Louisiana, Reuters reports.
A deal could be worth more than $1 billion, sources told the news agency, adding that the companies have settled on a structure for the deal and hope to reach an agreement by the end of the year.
According to Reuters, sources wh declined to be identified because the talks are confidential said there is no guarantee the talks will conclude successfully.
The news agency says Chesapeake is in dire need for money after its debt ballooned to $9.7 billion and the company which once was the second-largest U.S. natural gas producer, has warned it may not be able to continue as a going concern.
Chesapeake’s problems are emblematic of natural gas-focused shale companies’ struggle to generate profits as a steady increase in production—much of it a byproduct of the shale oil boom—has kept prices pegged below $3.
