Junior

Denver-based Gasco Energy Inc., a junior independent that has struggled to stay afloat, Thursday said it will release its only rig later this month and pay an early termination fee to the rig contractor. It also halved its capital expenditure (capex) plan for 2009.

Limited capital resources and low Rocky Mountain natural gas index prices are squeezing Pinnacle Gas Resources Inc., a junior explorer focused on the Powder River Basin. Several coalbed methane (CBM) wells already are shut in, the company has substantially curtailed all new drilling for 2008 and it may reduce drilling through the first half of 2009.

Limited capital resources and low Rocky Mountain natural gas index prices are squeezing Pinnacle Gas Resources Inc., a junior explorer focused on the Powder River Basin. Several coalbed methane (CBM) wells already are shut in, the company has substantially curtailed all new drilling for 2008 and it may reduce drilling through the first half of 2009.

Intensive application of improved drilling methods has paid off for an aggressive “junior” among Canadian natural gas producers while highlighting an industry trend of using technology to tap targets previously regarded as beyond economic reach.

Houston-based junior exploration and production company Dune Energy Inc. has agreed to sell its Barnett Shale assets in Denton and Wise counties, TX, for $41.5 million effective May 1, 2008, with closing expected on or before July 31, the company said Monday.

Canadian junior explorer Gastem Inc. has begun the first phase of a drilling development program on the New York state side of the emerging Utica Shale natural gas play, which extends from Quebec into New York.

Junior explorer Triangle Petroleum Corp., which has pinned its hopes on the natural gas potential in Nova Scotia, reported last week that a log analysis of two wells in the Windsor Basin yielded an estimated 89-109 Bcf of original gas in place (OGIP) per section from the Horton Bluff formation.

Junior explorer Triangle Petroleum Corp., which has pinned its hopes on the natural gas potential in Nova Scotia, reported Wednesday that a log analysis of two wells in the Windsor Basin yielded an estimated 89-109 Bcf of original gas in place (OGIP) per section from the Horton Bluff formation.

Calgary-based Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd. agreed to buy cross-town junior explorer Peerless Energy Inc. in a friendly deal valued at about C$334 million.