Fracking pioneer and the king of unconventional drilling Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK) is a company in dire straits, which makes it a great bargain right now. The Oklahoma-based exploration company ushered in America’s shale natural gas revolution a decade and a half ago; now, the odds are that it might not even survive the era of cheap gas it helped create. Chesapeake is the poster child of an industry that at one time had more money to burn than sense. For years, Chesapeake borrowed heavily to finance an aggressive expansion of its shale projects. But lately, the company has been running on fumes , teetering on the brink of bankruptcy under a mountain of debt that it’s unable to repay thanks to low energy prices remaining stubbornly low. The company has only managed to get this far through rounds of asset sales (which management is averse to), debt restructuring, and […]