A Peek at Chesapeake

Natural gas is one of the more controversial parts of the energy world today, and Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) is pretty much all about natural gas -- even if much of its production is hedged. I'm interested to see whether Chesapeake's operational advantages will really shine through, or whether it will simply be traded as a proxy for natural gas.

Once again, Chesapeake posted exceptional earnings growth. For the first quarter, revenue more than doubled, as did adjusted net income and adjusted EBITDA. It may be worth noting that adjusted EBITDA grew the slowest of the three, suggesting that rising costs remain a factor.

Production remained exemplary. Chesapeake boosted its daily production by more than 31% over last year's level, with much of that coming from organic production growth. The company also continued to add to its considerable natural gas reserves, logging a reserve replacement of more than 300% for the quarter, with more than 100% replacement achieved through organic drilling growth.

Operationally, it's tough to find fault with Chesapeake. It's hedged some of its production at attractive prices, and it's managed to generate appealing finding and development costs. By the same token, it remains a risky enterprise. Chesapeake carries considerable debt for its acquisitions, and the threat remains that uncontrolled expense growth could chew into operating cash flow.

This company has clearly built itself around the notion that higher natural gas prices are here to stay. If it's right, this company is built to generate a lot of cash flow in the years to come. Accordingly, I mostly consider it a leveraged play on natural gas; if gas prices remain high, Chesapeake will likely produce better returns than more conservative players like XTO Energy (NYSE: XTO), Devon (NYSE: DVN), and Apache (NYSE: APA), just to name a few. By the same token, this company made some mistakes in the past, and the stock cratered in the late '90s.

Though I don't share some investors' bullishness on natural gas, I still find Chesapeake very interesting, particularly for the long-term. Since it lacks the threats facing some of the drillers, investors who believe in long-term natural gas prices might want to take a closer look.

For more energetic Foolishness:

• Chesapeake: Full of Gas and Making Cash
• Apache Sticks to Its Knitting
• Does XTO Mark the Spot?

Fool contributor Stephen Simpson has no financial interest in any stocks mentioned (that means he's neither long nor short the shares).