Hyped

ConocoPhillips avoided the “feeding frenzies” that followed the hyped natural gas and oil discoveries in North America, but that doesn’t mean the company hasn’t been surreptitiously piecing together acreage in emerging tight gas and oil shale plays across the continent, COO John Carrig said Wednesday.

The Barnett Shale in the Fort Worth Basin may be the most hyped natural gas shale area of North America, but the Canadian Maritimes abundant rock could be the next new thing. Led by Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, all four of Canada’s Atlantic provinces are seeing an upward trend in awarding onshore exploration rights, and even though the activity level is modest by comparison to the onshore activity in Western Canada, this emerging region is garnering considerable interest from small and large producers.

The Barnett Shale in the Fort Worth Basin may be the most hyped natural gas shale area of North America, but at least one analyst is suggesting that the Canadian Maritimes abundant rock could be the next new thing.

The zeal with which natural gas prices have advanced on the heels of primarily hurricane concerns has some traders checking their spreadsheets and preparing for what may be short-lived trading opportunities.

Fueled by hurricane concerns, natural gas futures picked up Monday where they left off Friday as traders continued to hedge against possible supply disruptions in a market already in a delicate supply-demand balance.