Mainland Resources, Inc.(fka MNLU)

[Ecomike]

I wonder if there is more than just NG being looked at now? This new guy is also an expert on oil in special high pressure formations (from what little I have read so far about him), and there has been occasional speculation of smackover oil just a little deeper than the current well depth.

I am not an O&G exploration engineer (I am out of my league here), but I wonder if you can produce a well like BP#1 for several years to lower the local geologic pressure, and then re-enter the well, or drill a new well next to the BP#1, and go deeper once the local pressure has been reduced enough to permit safer drilling just a little deeper?

Interesting new NG play article today from Seeking Alpha:

http://seekingalpha.com/article/300216-looking-for-the-next-natural-gas-play?ifp=0&source=email_alternative_energy_investing

Deal #2
Let's assume the price moves back to $5 within a few years. If that's the case, what are the best ways to play the trend? Well, Norway's Statoil (NYSE: STO) has just decided to acquire Brigham Exploration for a whopping $4.4 billion. [Tony Daltorio also recently wrote about Statoil's huge new oil finds in the North Sea.]

Curiously, multi-national energy firms typically buy U.S. companies for their oil, not gas, because oil is a much more fungible global commodity. Statoil is clearly focused on U.S. energy market opportunities because natural gas produced in the North America invariably stays here. By acquiring Brigham (along with a $3.4 billion purchase of assets from Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) in 2008 and a $225 million purchase of shale acreage from Talisman Energy (NYSE: TLM) in June), Statoil is tacitly expressing the belief that the U.S. natural gas market offers some of the strongest potential returns in the global energy industry.

Merrill Lynch notes Southwestern has chosen to avoid hedging, meaning it hasn't locked up its output at moderately higher prices, as many producers have. "We think this could be an indication of the industry's view on natural gas prices trudging at near floor levels." Said another way, Southwestern's stock has more upside than most if gas prices start to rebound in coming quarters.