The Oklahoma City-based company said that although it has not yet completed any of these transactions it hopes to raise nearly $12 billion. It would amount to more than twice the amount that it could raise from operations even if the natural-gas prices increase to $4 per million British thermal units from the current $2.43.

 

At the New York Stock exchange composite trading at 4 p.m., Chesapeake stock went up 2.4 percent to $22.66. On Monday, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the outlook for Chesapeake’s roughly $11 billion in debt to stable from positive. Analysts view Chesapeake’s announcement as a sign of financial stress, saying that the Permian holdings is an attractive asset and its possible outright sale displays a sense of strain. Chesapeake said that it plans to raise $7 billion to close the gap between its revenue from operations and its likely expenditure drilling and paying off debt.