[4][5] In its first year, it generated $1.7 billion in funding to develop and drill approximately 110,000 net acres of the Utica Shale formation in Ohio.

[6][7][8] McClendon received initial financial backing in the form of $1.25 billion from The Energy & Minerals Group, founded and managed by John T. Raymond, and First Reserve Corporation.

[9][14] That month, AELP also bought its first holdings in Oklahoma's Woodford Shale with the purchase of 120,000 acres from Calyx Energy II.

[7] In August of that year, the company bought 75,000 acres in Ohio's Utica Shale and West Virginia's Marcellus Shale plays from Terrence Pegula's East Resources, a $1.75 billion sale that freed up capital for Pegula to purchase the Buffalo Bills.

[17][18] Additionally in June 2014, Energy Transfer Partners LP announced that AELP would ship natural gas from the Utica shale play to the Midwest, Great Lakes, Gulf Coast and Ontario, Canada, using Energy Transfer's proposed Rover Pipeline.

[24][30][42] Ascent is itself a merger of AELP's Utica and Marcellus affiliates which owns 235,000 net acres producing an estimated 280 million cubic feet equivalent daily, and the company estimates its assets contain 1.8 trillion cubic feet equivalent of proven reserves.

[21] Permian Resources, LLC was officially formed from the American Energy-Permian Basin affiliate as of April 1, 2016.

The Oklahoma affiliate, American Energy-Woodford, became White Star Petroleum, LLC earlier in 2016.

[13] An Oklahoma County judge ruled in May 2015 that Chesapeake's complaint against American Energy must go to arbitration, not through the courts.