UPDATE 1-Chesapeake to sell some Oklahoma assets to Newfield for $470 mln

(Compares Q1 results with estimates; adds forecast, asset sale
details, share move and company background)
May 5 (Reuters) - Chesapeake Energy Corp (NYSE:CHK) CHK.N , the
second-largest U.S. natural gas producer, said it would sell
some assets in Oklahoma to Newfield Exploration Co NFX.N for
$470 million as part of a plan to shore up its finances through
divestitures.
Chesapeake's shares were up 12 percent at $6.31 in premarket
trading after the company also reported a smaller quarterly loss
and cut its production expense forecast for the year.
The company said it would sell about 42,000 net acres in
Oklahoma's STACK field, with current production of 3,800 barrels
of oil equivalent per day.
Low natural gas and oil prices have hit the heavily
leveraged company, which plans to sell assets worth an
additional $500 million to $1 billion this year.
"We anticipate subsequent divestitures during the second and
third quarters," Chief Executive Doug Lawler said in a
statement.
The company on Thursday lowered its forecast for 2016
production costs to $3.40-$3.60 per barrel of oil equivalent
(boe) from $3.60-$3.80 per boe.
Chesapeake said in February that it tapped legal counsel
Kirkland & Ellis for advice as it seeks to strengthen its
balance sheet with debt exchanges and other transactions, and
that it had no plans for bankruptcy as some in the market have
speculated.
The company's net loss attributable to shareholders narrowed
to $964 million in the three months ended March 31, from $3.78
billion a year earlier. The year-earlier period included
one-time items of $3.8 billion.
Excluding an $853 million impairment charge, loss in the
latest quarter was 10 cents per share, in line with analysts'
average estimate.
Revenue slumped 39 percent to $1.95 billion, widely missing
analysts' expectations of $2.55 billion.