CHESAPEAKE ENERGY CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARY, COMPASS MANUFACTURING, NAMED 2011 EXCELLENCE IN SAFETY AWARD RECIPIENTS

OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA, JUNE 16, 2011 – Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) received the  2011 Excellence in Safety Award for both  the large- and small-company categories at the Oklahoma Safety Conference in Norman, Oklahoma.  Chesapeake Operating, Inc., a subsidiary of Chesapeake, was recognized in the large-company category for its safety programs, and Chesapeake’s subsidiary, Compass Manufacturing, which manufactures gas production equipment, received the award in the small-company category.

Former Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Jari Askins and current State Labor Commissioner Mark Costello presented the safety awards to Chesapeake Vice President of Regulatory Compliance Paul Hagemeier and Director of Operations for Compass Manufacturing Don Mosher.  The Oklahoma Safety Council presents the safety awards to member companies with a historically strong commitment to safety.

“Safety is a high priority at every Chesapeake operation, and we constantly strive to make sure every one of our employees recognizes and accepts the fact we all share in the ongoing responsibility of making sure our workplaces are as safe as possible,”  Hagemeier said. “Our senior management, starting with our CEO Aubrey McClendon, has provided us the resources to be the leader in safety performance in our industry.  We are proud of this award and accept it on behalf our employees throughout Oklahoma.  We thank and congratulate our employees for promoting a safe working environment, safe practices and a culture of prevention.”

Al Lavenue, President of Compass, commented on the award: “On behalf of the employees at Compass Manufacturing, I am very pleased to be recognized by the Oklahoma Safety Council for this achievement.  I’m very proud of our employees’ hard work and dedication to our safety programs and for recently reaching a milestone of 500 days without an OSHA-recordable incident.”

Chesapeake’s Environmental, Health and Safety Department (EHS) utilizes an extensive training and education program, as well as several innovative approaches to engaging employees.  Chesapeake has implemented the Stay Accident Free Everyday (SAFE) program, which is a Chesapeake specific two-day workshop that focuses on developing safe behaviors, promoting a positive safety culture and mitigating risk in all operations.  Also, the company implemented a Safety Award Program to incentivize employee participation.  Chesapeake’s senior management team continues to reinforce the company’s stop-work authority policy.   Although it is rarely necessary to implement, the stop-work authority policy allows all employees to take control of a situation any time the conditions could adversely affect safety, the environment or the company’s operations.

Compass not only complies with Chesapeake’s corporate standards, it also implemented other safety-enhancing practices such as the formation of local safety committees and the implementation of site-specific safety procedures.

---