25Th

Raymond James’ analysts took away several key things from their 25th Annual Institutional Investors Conference in Florida last week, led by a belief that rising steel prices will significantly impact many areas of the energy business and potentially create a “bottleneck” for activity. However, despite oilfield inflation, bullish exploration and production (E&P) capital budgets still have room to grow.

The Oil & Gas Asset Clearinghouse sold more than $18.1million of properties as of its Oct. 25th Hybrid auction, whichfeatured simultaneous floor and Internet bidding in Midland, TX.Based in Houston, the company is a wholly owned subsidiary ofPetroleum Place, an Internet portal and marketplace serving theupstream energy industry. The Clearinghouse said it offered 128lots, consisting of more than 800 wells, including 46 higher valuedproperties. Year-to-date, Internet bidders have purchased more than$25 million properties through Selective Offerings, andparticipation on the Internet also is increasing, said the company.