atmosphere of vitality and energy at Chesapeake, important ingredi -
ents of our distinctive culture. These attributes, along with a vibrant 
and attractive corporate headquarters campus, low levels of bureau -
cracy, great assets and a well-executed corporate strategy combine to 
create our culture of success and innovation. 
This has generated extremely positive external feedback as  
Chesapeake was recently recognized for the fourth consecutive year  
as one of the FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For ®(3) in the U.S.  
In fact, we moved up to #32 overall and #1 in our industry — we are  
very proud of having created and sustained what is now considered  
the best place to work in all of the U.S. energy production industry. 
In addition, we were honored in December 2010 at the 12th Annual 
Platts Global Energy Awards as finalists for CEO of the Year, Community 
Development Program of the Year, Deal of the Year, Energy Producer 
of the Year and the Industry Leadership Award. Chesapeake was one 
of only two companies selected as a finalist in five or more categories. 
The company was also honored in 2010 with a Certificate of Recognition 
for our military reserve recruiting efforts, named a 2010 Best Diversity 
Company by Engineering & Information Technology Magazine and rec -
ognized for Best Investor Relations in Energy Sector and Best Investor 
Relations Website at the 2010 IR Magazine U.S. Awards.
Recent Events and a Better Way Forward
You may be aware that I have been outspoken in attempting to persuade 
our country’s political leadership to recognize that the discovery of vast 
resources of unconventional natural gas and oil in the U.S. is a complete 
game changer for our country from an economic, national security and 
environmental perspective. After two years of my best efforts and the 
efforts of many others in the industry, most notably T. Boone Pickens,  
From our beginning 22 years ago with 10 
employees in Oklahoma City to employing 
more than 10,000 people across 15 states 
today, Chesapeake has always focused on 
building first-class human resources within  
a distinctive corporate culture. 
<<  A Chesapeake rig drills in the Marcellus Shale, where the company is  
the leading leasehold owner, largest producer and most active driller.
wet natural gas and dry natural gas), similar to the components of the 
Eagle Ford Shale. We have made a large commitment to this play and 
have acquired approximately 1.2 million net leasehold acres and expect 
to increase this total to as much as 1.5 million net leasehold acres in the 
coming months. We are currently using three rigs to evaluate the play 
and believe our leasehold could support the drilling of up to 12,000 net 
wells. This is an area where we anticipate bringing in a joint venture 
partner late in 2011 or early in 2012.
Our People 
Great assets cannot exist without great people, so we take great pride 
in hiring, training, motivating, rewarding and retaining what we regard 
as the best employees in the industry. From our beginning 22 years ago 
with 10 employees in Oklahoma City to employing more than 10,000 
people across 15 states today, Chesapeake has always focused on build -
ing first-class human resources within a distinctive corporate culture. Talk 
to Chesapeake employees and you will note genuine pride and great  
enthusiasm about the company and the critical role that we play in deliv-
ering increasing quantities of clean and affordable American natural gas 
and valuable and reliable liquids to energy consumers across the country.
Chesapeake employees are distinctive in other ways as well. They 
are much younger than the industry average, with half of our almost 
4,000 Oklahoma City-based headquarters employees 33 years old  
or younger. Their enthusiasm and willingness to learn create an  
12  |  LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS