[X] QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the Quarterly Period Ended March 31, 2018

[  ] TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from to

Commission File No. 1-13726

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

As of April 23, 2018 , there were 911,815,100 shares of our $0.01 par value common stock outstanding.

CHESAPEAKE ENERGY CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(Unaudited)

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements of Chesapeake were prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP") and the rules and regulations of the SEC. Pursuant to such rules and regulations, certain disclosures have been condensed or omitted.

This Form 10-Q relates to the three months ended March 31, 2018 (the "Current Quarter") and the three months ended March 31, 2017 (the "Prior Quarter"). Our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 ("2017 Form 10-K") should be read in conjunction with this Form 10-Q. The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all normal recurring adjustments which, in the opinion of management, are necessary for a fair statement of our condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes and include the accounts of our direct and indirect wholly owned subsidiaries and entities in which we have a controlling financial interest. Intercompany accounts and balances have been eliminated .

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) superseding virtually all existing revenue recognition guidance. We adopted this new standard in the first quarter of 2018 using the modified retrospective approach. We applied the new standard to all contracts that were not completed as of January 1, 2018 and reflected the aggregate effect of all modifications in determining and allocating the transaction price. See Note 10 for further details regarding our adoption of Topic 606.

In February 2018, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2018-02, Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income . The new standard allows for stranded tax effects resulting from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the "Tax Act") previously recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income to be reclassified to retained earnings. For public business entities, the amendments are effective for annual periods, including interim periods within the annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2018. Early adoption is permitted in any interim or annual period, but we do not plan to early adopt. We are currently evaluating the impact of this standard on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

In August 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-12 , Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815), which makes significant changes to the current hedge accounting guidance. The new standard eliminates the requirement to separately measure and report hedge ineffectiveness and generally requires the entire change in the fair value of a hedging instrument to be presented in the same income statement line as the hedged item. The new standard also eases certain documentation and assessment requirements and modifies the accounting for components excluded from the assessment of hedge effectiveness. The new standard update is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those annual periods. Early adoption is permitted, but we do not plan to early adopt. We are currently evaluating the impact of this standard on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), which updated lease accounting guidance requiring lessees to recognize most leases, including operating leases, on the balance sheet as a right-of-use asset and lease liability for leases with terms in excess of 12 months. In January 2018, the FASB issued an update permitting an entity to elect an optional transition practical expedient to not evaluate land easements that existed or expired before the adoption of Topic 842 and were not previously accounted for as leases. Currently the guidance would be applied using a modified retrospective transition method, which requires applying the new guidance to leases that exist or are entered into after the beginning of the earliest period in the financial statements. However, the FASB recently issued Proposed ASU No. 2018-200, Leases (Topic 842), Targeted Improvements which would allow entities to apply the transition provisions of the new standard at its adoption date instead of at the earliest comparative period presented in the consolidated financial statements. The proposed ASU will allow entities to continue to apply the legacy guidance in Topic 840, including its disclosure requirements, in the comparative periods presented in the year the new leases standard is adopted. Entities that elect this option would still adopt the new leases standard using a modified retrospective transition method, but would recognize a cumulative-effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings in the period of adoption rather than in the earliest period presented. Early adoption is permitted, but we do not plan to early adopt . The standard will not apply to our leases of mineral rights. We are continuing to evaluate the impact of this standard on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

Basic earnings per share (EPS) is calculated using the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period and includes the effect of any participating securities as appropriate. Participating securities consist of unvested restricted stock issued to our employees and non-employee directors that provide dividend rights.

Diluted EPS is calculated assuming the issuance of common shares for all potentially dilutive securities, provided the effect is not antidilutive. For all periods presented, our contingent convertible senior notes did not have a dilutive effect and, therefore, were excluded from the calculation of diluted EPS. See Note 3 for further discussion of our convertible senior notes and contingent convertible senior notes.

A reconciliation of basic EPS and diluted EPS for the Current Quarter and the Prior Quarter is as follows:

Our long-term debt consisted of the following as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017:

Debt Retirements

In the Prior Quarter, we retired $908 million principal amount of our outstanding senior notes and contingent convertible notes through purchases in the open market, tender offers or repayment upon maturity for $982 million . For the open market repurchases and tender offers, we recorded an aggregate net loss of approximately $7 million .

Revolving Credit Facility

We have a senior secured revolving credit facility currently subject to a $3.8 billion borrowing base that matures in December 2019. As of March 31, 2018 , we had outstanding borrowings of $200 million under the revolving credit facility and had used $157 million of the revolving credit facility for various letters of credit. Borrowings under the revolving credit facility bear interest at a variable rate. The terms of the revolving credit facility include covenants limiting, among other things, our ability to incur additional indebtedness, make investments or loans, create liens, consummate mergers and similar fundamental changes, make restricted payments, make investments in unrestricted subsidiaries and enter into transactions with affiliates. Our next borrowing base redetermination is scheduled for the second quarter of 2018.

Our revolving credit facility is subject to various financial and other covenants. As of March 31, 2018 , we were in compliance with all applicable financial covenants under the credit agreement and we were able to borrow up to the full availability under the revolving credit facility.

Fair Value of Debt

We estimate the fair value of our senior notes based on the market value of our publicly traded debt as determined based on the yield of our senior notes (Level 1). The fair value of all other debt is based on a market approach using estimates provided by an independent investment financial data services firm (Level 2). Fair value is compared to the carrying value, excluding the impact of interest rate derivatives, in the table below:

There have been no material developments in previously reported legal or environmental contingencies or commitments other than the items discussed below. For a discussion of commitments and contingencies, see "Contingencies and Commitments," Note 4 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in our 2017 Form 10-K.

Contingencies

Regulatory and Related Proceedings . We have previously disclosed receiving U.S. Postal Service and state subpoenas seeking information on our royalty payment practices. The U.S. Postal Service inquiry and all outstanding state subpoenas have been resolved.

We have also previously disclosed defending lawsuits alleging various violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act and state antitrust laws. In 2016, putative class action lawsuits were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma and in Oklahoma state courts, and an individual lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court of Kansas, in each case against us and other defendants. The lawsuits generally allege that, since 2007 and continuing through April 2013, the defendants conspired to rig bids and depress the market for the purchases of oil and natural gas leasehold interests and properties in the Anadarko Basin containing producing oil and natural gas wells. The lawsuits seek damages, attorney's fees, costs and interest, as well as enjoinment from adopting practices or plans that would restrain competition in a similar manner as alleged in the lawsuits. On April 12, 2018, we reached a tentative settlement to resolve substantially all Oklahoma civil class action antitrust cases for an immaterial amount.

We recently received a demand letter from the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) regarding HOOPP's purchase of our interest in Chaparral Energy, Inc. stock for $215 million on January 5, 2014. HOOPP claims that the Company engaged in material misrepresentations and fraud, and that we violated the Exchange Act and Oklahoma Uniform Securities Act. HOOPP seeks $215 million in monetary damages, plus interest, attorney's fees, disgorgement and punitive damages. We expect a lawsuit will be filed, and we intend to vigorously defend it.

Commitments

Gathering, Processing and Transportation Agreements

We have contractual commitments with midstream service companies and pipeline carriers for future gathering, processing and transportation of oil, natural gas and NGL to move certain of our production to market. Working interest owners and royalty interest owners, where appropriate, will be responsible for their proportionate share of these costs. Commitments related to gathering, processing and transportation agreements are not recorded as obligations in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets; however, they are reflected in our estimates of proved reserves.

The aggregate undiscounted commitments under our gathering, processing and transportation agreements, excluding any reimbursement from working interest and royalty interest owners, credits for third-party volumes or future costs under cost-of-service agreements, are presented below:

In addition, we have entered into long-term agreements for certain natural gas gathering and related services within specified acreage dedication areas in exchange for cost-of-service based fees redetermined annually, or tiered fees based on volumes delivered relative to scheduled volumes. Future gathering fees may vary with the applicable agreement.

Other current liabilities as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 are detailed below:

Other long-term liabilities as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 are detailed below:

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We estimate our annual effective tax rate for continuing operations in recording our quarterly income tax provision (or benefit) for the various jurisdictions in which we operate. The tax effects of statutory rate changes, significant unusual or infrequent items, and certain changes in the assessment of the realizability of deferred tax assets are excluded from the determination of our annual effective tax rate as such items are recognized as discrete items in the quarter in which they occur.

For the Current Quarter, our effective tax rate remains nominal as a result of maintaining a valuation allowance against substantially all of our net deferred tax asset. Based on our projected operating results for the subsequent 2018 quarters, we project remaining in a net deferred tax asset position as of December 31, 2018. Based on all available positive and negative evidence, including estimates of future taxable income, we believe it is more-likely-than-not that these deferred tax assets will not be realized. A significant piece of objective negative evidence evaluated is the projected cumulative loss incurred over the rolling three-year period ending March 31, 2018, which limits our ability to consider other subjective positive evidence, such as our projections for future growth and earnings. A valuation allowance was recorded against substantially all of our net deferred tax asset as of both December 31, 2017 and March 31, 2018.

We are subject to U.S. federal income tax as well as income and capital taxes in various state jurisdictions. During the Current Quarter, the federal tax examination by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of taxable years 2010 through 2013 was settled. Based on new information available in the Current Quarter and the expectation that certain statute of limitations should expire during 2018, we anticipate a $14 million estimated reduction to the liability for state unrecognized tax benefits resulting in an $11 million estimated income tax benefit being recorded as early as the next quarter.

On December 22, 2017, the President of the United States signed into law the Tax Act, which substantially revised numerous areas of U.S. federal income tax law, including reducing the tax rate for corporations from a maximum rate of 35% to a flat rate of 21% and eliminating the corporate alternative minimum tax (AMT). The various estimates included in determining our tax provision as of December 31, 2017 remain provisional through the three months ended March 31, 2018 and may be adjusted through subsequent events such as the filing of the 2017 consolidated federal income tax return and the issuance of additional guidance such as new Treasury Regulations. Moreover, we are still in the process of evaluating the full impact of the Tax Act both at the federal and state level.

Our share-based compensation program consists of restricted stock, stock options, performance share units (PSUs) and cash restricted stock units (CRSUs) granted to employees and restricted stock granted to non-employee directors under our long term incentive plans. The restricted stock and stock options are equity-classified awards and the PSUs and CRSUs are liability-classified awards.

Equity-Classified Awards

Restricted Stock. We grant restricted stock units to employees and non-employee directors. A summary of the changes in unvested restricted stock during the Current Quarter is presented below:

The aggregate intrinsic value of restricted stock that vested during the Current Quarter was approximately $15 million based on the stock price at the time of vesting.

As of March 31, 2018 , there was approximately $40 million of total unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested restricted stock. The expense is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of approximately 2.02 years.

Stock Options. In the Current Quarter and the Prior Quarter, we granted members of management stock options that vest ratably over a three -year period. Each stock option award has an exercise price equal to the closing price of our common stock on the grant date. Outstanding options expire seven years to ten years from the date of grant.

We utilize the Black-Scholes option pricing model to measure the fair value of stock options. The expected life of an option is determined using the simplified method. Volatility assumptions are estimated based on an average of historical volatility of Chesapeake stock over the expected life of an option. The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury rate in effect at the time of the grant over the expected life of the option. The dividend yield is based on an annual dividend yield, taking into account our dividend policy, over the expected life of the option. We used the following weighted average assumptions to estimate the grant date fair value of the stock options granted in the Current Quarter:

The following table provides information related to stock option activity in the Current Quarter: 

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As of March 31, 2018 , there was $23 million of total unrecognized compensation expense related to stock options. The expense is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of approximately 2.14 years .

Restricted Stock and Stock Option Compensation. We recognized the following compensation costs related to restricted stock and stock options for the Current Quarter and the Prior Quarter:

Liability-Classified Awards

Performance Share Units. We granted PSUs to senior management that vest ratably over a three -year performance period and are settled in cash. The ultimate amount earned is based on achievement of performance metrics established by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors. Compensation expense associated with PSU awards is recognized over the service period based on the graded-vesting method. The value of the PSU awards at the end of each reporting period is dependent upon our estimates of the underlying performance measures.

For PSUs granted in 2017 and 2016, performance metrics include a total shareholder return (TSR) component, which can range from 0% to 100% and an operational performance component based on finding and development costs, which can range from 0% to 100% , resulting in a maximum payout of 200% . The payout percentage for the 2016 and 2017 PSU awards is capped at 100% if our absolute TSR is less than zero . The PSUs are settled in cash on the third anniversary of the awards. We utilized a Monte Carlo simulation for the TSR performance measure and the following assumptions to determine the grant date fair value of the PSUs.

The PSUs are subsequently adjusted, based on adjustments to the above assumptions through the end of each subsequent reporting period, through the end of the performance period.

For PSUs granted in 2018, performance metrics include an operational performance component based on a ratio of cumulative earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and depreciation, depletion and amortization expense (EBITDA) to capital expenditures, for which payout can range from 0% to 200% . The vested PSUs are settled in cash on each of the three annual vesting dates. We used the closing price of our common stock on the grant date to determine the grant date fair value of the PSUs. The PSUs are subsequently adjusted, based on changes in our stock price through the end of each subsequent reporting period, through the end of the performance period.

Cash Restricted Stock Units . We granted CRSUs to employees that vest straight-line over a three-year period and are settled in cash on each of the three annual vesting dates. The ultimate amount earned is based on the closing price of our common stock on each of the vesting dates. We used the closing price of our common stock on the grant date to determine the grant date fair value of the CRSUs. The CRSUs are subsequently adjusted, based on changes in our stock price through the end of each subsequent reporting period, through the end of each vesting period.

The following table presents a summary of our liability-classified awards:

We use derivative instruments to reduce our exposure to fluctuations in future commodity prices and to protect our expected operating cash flow against significant market movements or volatility. All of our oil, natural gas and NGL derivative instruments are net settled based on the difference between the fixed-price payment and the floating-price payment, resulting in a net amount due to or from the counterparty. None of our oil, natural gas and NGL derivative instruments were designated for hedge accounting as of March 31, 2018 or December 31, 2017.

Oil, Natural Gas and NGL Derivatives

As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, our oil, natural gas and NGL derivative instruments consisted of the following types of instruments:

The estimated fair values of our oil, natural gas and NGL derivative instrument assets (liabilities) as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 are provided below: 

We have terminated certain commodity derivative contracts that were previously designated as cash flow hedges for which the original contract months are yet to occur. See further discussion below under Effect of Derivative Instruments – Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) .

Effect of Derivative Instruments – Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

The following table presents the fair value and location of each classification of derivative instrument included in the condensed consolidated balance sheets as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 on a gross basis and after same-counterparty netting:

As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, we did not have any cash collateral balances for our derivatives.

Effect of Derivative Instruments – Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

The components of oil, natural gas and NGL revenues for the Current Quarter and the Prior Quarter are presented below:

Effect of Derivative Instruments – Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)

A reconciliation of the changes in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in our consolidated statements of stockholders' equity related to our cash flow hedges is presented below:

The accumulated other comprehensive loss as of March 31, 2018 represents the net deferred loss associated with commodity derivative contracts that were previously designated as cash flow hedges for which the original contract months are yet to occur. Remaining deferred gain or loss amounts will be recognized in earnings in the month for which the original contract months are to occur. As of March 31, 2018 , we expect to transfer approximately $33 million of net loss included in accumulated other comprehensive income to net income (loss) during the next 12 months. The remaining amounts will be transferred by December 31, 2022.