Chesapeake Energy Corp. CHK -7.82 % swung to a heavy loss in the first quarter as the U.S. shale driller took a $3.6 billion write-down on some properties amid tumbling oil and natural gas prices. Excluding the impairment and other special charges, profit came in above expectations. Earlier this year, Chesapeake announced plans to reduce its rig operations to their lowest level since 2004 amid falling crude-oil and natural gas prices. It said it would reduce capital expenditures by 37% and drop the number of rigs drilling for new oil and gas finds by about 38%. Chesapeake has struggled to recover from years of aggressive spending as the land-grab approach the company pioneered for oil and gas drilling meant it spent more than its wells generated […]