Icahn raises stake in Chesapeake Energy to 11 percent

(Reuters) - Activist investor Carl Icahn raised his stake in Chesapeake Energy Corp to almost 11 percent even as the company continues to cope with low oil and gas prices. Chesapeake's stock rose 3.8 percent to $14.64 in late trade. Icahn increased his stake to 10.98 percent from 9.98 percent with 73.05 million shares held in Chesapeake, according to a regulatory filing on Monday. (http://1.usa.gov/1HsJzA0) Icahn will remain the second-largest owner in the company with his increased stake, according to Thomson Reuters data. In a separate announcement, Chesapeake further reduced its 2015 capital budget to a range of $3.5 billion to $4 billion from $4 billion to $4.5 billion in response to low crude oil prices. The company reported capital expenditures of $6.7 billion in 2014. Icahn said in February he believed oil prices would continue to decline in the near term. Last year, Icahn's publicly traded investment fund Icahn Enterprises LP posted its first annual loss since 2008, undone by plummeting oil prices. U.S. oil prices have fallen by 50 percent since June to below $50 per barrel as growing supplies of oil from shale and oil sands in North America overwhelm weak global demand. (Reporting by Kanika Sikka in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr)