FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                          April 20, 2004 

CHESAPEAKE ENERGY PROVIDES $25,000 GIFT TO SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

            Chesapeake Energy Corporation has presented Northwestern Oklahoma State University with a gift of $25,000 that will be used to provide scholarships for students from northwestern and western Oklahoma.

            Dr. Paul Beran, president of Northwestern, along with other university officials and representatives of the Northwestern Foundation, accepted the gift from Tom Price Jr., Chesapeake’s senior vice president for investor and government relations, at an on-campus luncheon.

            “I am so pleased that Chesapeake has chosen to make this investment in Northwestern and in the lives of our students,” Beran said. “Through the creation of its Chesapeake Scholars Program, the company has become an excellent example of the corporate sector investing in Northwestern, which in turn is an investment in the future of western Oklahoma.”

            Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake is the state’s largest producer of natural gas and is the most active driller operator with 42 active rigs in Oklahoma. Chesapeake has much of its company-operated production and drilling occurring in western and northwestern Oklahoma and operates a field office in Waynoka.

            “Chesapeake is proud to announce this investment in Northwestern as an extension of our ongoing financial commitment to enhance the educational and career development opportunities in those areas of the state where our drilling program is finding new reserves, creating quality jobs and distributing significant royalty payments,” Price said. “Chesapeake shares a common goal with Northwestern to improve the economic condition of rural Oklahoma.”

            Chesapeake’s gift of $5,000 annually for the next five years will target

Northwestern students from western and northwestern Oklahoma. Northwestern will work with the company to determine the best use of its investment in the university’s scholarship program.

            This is Chesapeake’s second contribution to Northwestern within the past year. Last summer, Chesapeake was the corporate sponsor of the Presidential Partners Golf Classic, a benefit tournament held annually at Boiling Springs Golf Club.

-NW-

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