GLONGHUI, May 21 | US gas producer Chesapeake Energy said the company began layoffs this week after completing the oil asset divestment last year. The company did not state the size and scope of the layoffs. Chesapeake Energy said in 2022 that it would exit the Eagle Ford shale field in southern Texas and become a pure gas producer. In early 2023, the company sold some of these assets to INEOS Energy for $1.4 billion, and sold the remaining assets to SilverBow Resources for $700 million later that year, thus completing the divestment. The company is completing a $7.4 billion merger with Southwest Energy. The deal is due to close in the second half of this year, later than initially anticipated after the US Federal Trade Commission sought more information.