Chesapeake reports a surprise adjusted profit, helped by lower expenses, and expects to exit the next two years at higher production rates. Nov 3 (Reuters) – U.S. natural gas producer Chesapeake Energy Corp reported a surprise adjusted profit, helped by lower expenses, and said it expects to exit the next two years at higher production rates. Shares of Chesapeake, which also kept its 2017 budget nearly unchanged, rose as much as 9 percent to $5.80 on Thursday. Decreased costs for oilfield services and more efficient drilling processes are helping oil producers extract more barrels of oil, without having to spend more. Chesapeake said on Thursday it would exit the fourth quarter of 2017 with a 7 percent rise in total production from the end of the current quarter. Chesapeake said oil production would grow by about 10 percent over the same period. Between the end of 2017 and 2018, […]