Aubrey K. McClendon, chairman and chief executive officer of American Energy Partners LP and former chief executive officer of Chesapeake Energy Corp., died in a car crash in Oklahoma City on Mar. 2, KFOR in Oklahoma City reported.
McClendon on Mar. 1 was indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiring to rig the price of oil and natural gas leases in Oklahoma. American Energy Partners subsequently released the following statement from McClendon:
“The charge that has been filed against me today is wrong and unprecedented. I have been singled out as the only person in the oil and gas industry in over 110 years since the Sherman Act became law to have been accused of this crime in relation to joint bidding on leasehold,” McClendon said.
“Anyone who knows me, my business record, and the industry in which I have worked for 35 years, knows that I could not be guilty of violating any antitrust laws. All my life I have worked to create jobs in Oklahoma, grow its economy, and to provide abundant and affordable energy to all Americans. I am proud of my track record in this industry, and I will fight to prove my innocence and to clear my name,” he stated.
McClendon launched American Energy Partners in 2013 “to capitalize on opportunities available in unconventional resource plays onshore in the US (OGJ Online, June 9, 2014).”
The move almost immediately followed his departure from Chesapeake, which he cofounded in 1989, amid allegations of inappropriate behavior including running an energy-focused hedge fund from Chesapeake’s offices and personally borrowing $1.3 billion from the company’s business partners (OGJ Online, Jan. 31, 2013).
