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Photo by Teresa Beasley

From left, Dr. Joe Shannon; City Manager Brenda Samford; County Judge David Anderson; J. Kevin McCotter, Chesapeake; Panola College President Dr. Greg Powell; Sarie Joubert, Chesapeake; Dr. Lillian Cook, Vice President of Instruction; and Van Patterson, Director, Institutional Development.

Chesapeake Energy donated $5,000 to the Panola College petroleum technology program.

One of the largest producers of natural gas in the world, Chesapeake is the most active driller of new wells in the U.S.  Headquartered in Oklahoma City, the company's operations focus on discovering and developing unconventional natural gas and oil fields onshore in the U.S.

Chesapeake owns leading positions in the Barnett, Fayetteville, Haynesville, Marcellus and Bossier natural gas shale plays and in the Eagle Ford, Granite Wash and various other unconventional oil plays. The company has also vertically integrated its operations and owns substantial midstream, compression, drilling and oilfield service assets. Find out more about Chesapeake on the company website.

Panola College continues to grow and expand its petroleum technology program in collaboration with oil and gas producers in the college's service area of Panola, Marion, Harrison and Shelby counties.

“Panola College does an outstanding job in serving the citizens of East Texas and the surrounding Haynesville Shale area by providing higher education and workforce development opportunities for people interested in pursuing life goals through higher Education,” said Kevin McCotter, Chesapeake’s Senior Director of Corporate Development, Haynesville Shale.  “Chesapeake is proud to support Panola College’s newest efforts in specialized training for the oil and natural gas industry.”

According to Dr. Joe Shannon, Dean of Instruction at Panola College, "Courses are offered at the Shelby Regional Training Center and at the Panola College main campus in Carthage. Students in the program take classroom courses and conduct field activities. Many students also work in internships with companies to acquire on-the-job professional experience.”