Trained

Houston-based Contango Oil & Gas Co., which up to now has trained its sights on Gulf Coast locations, last week joined with some savvy financial partners to invest in a key Encana Corp. resource play, the Jonah field, one of the largest natural gas fields in the United States and the third largest oilfield in Wyoming.

Houston-based Contango Oil & Gas Co., which up to now has trained its sights on Gulf Coast locations, on Monday joined with some financial partners to ante up to $380 million in a key Encana Corp. resource play, the Jonah field, one of the largest natural gas fields in the United States and the third largest oilfield in Wyoming.

Marathon Oil Corp., which began 2012 as a pure-play exploration and production (E&P) company, has its sights trained on two big shale plays in the United States: the Eagle Ford and the Bakken, company officials said Wednesday.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wants Pennsylvania to immediately test its water supplies for radioactivity.

With its strategy more trained on oil than natural gas, Denbury Resources Inc. has agreed to sell more than half of its Barnett Shale natural gas assets to privately held Talon Oil & Gas LLC for $270 million.

Stone Energy Corp., which was on the losing end of two merger attempts in 2006, has trained its sights on acquiring Houston-based Bois d’Arc Energy Inc. in a transaction estimated at $1.8 billion. The combination would give Stone a solid Gulf of Mexico (GOM) exploration portfolio 55% weighted to natural gas, around 300 MMcfe/d in production, 700 Bcfe-plus of estimated proved reserves and 275 Bcfe of estimated probable reserves.

Stone Energy Corp., which was on the losing end of two merger attempts in 2006, has trained its sights on acquiring Houston-based Bois d’Arc Energy Inc. in a transaction estimated at $1.8 billion. The combination would give Stone a solid Gulf of Mexico (GOM) exploration portfolio 55% weighted to natural gas, around 300 MMcfe/d in production, 700 Bcfe-plus of estimated proved reserves and 275 Bcfe of estimated probable reserves.

With its focus now trained exclusively on North American unconventional natural gas and integrated oil resources, EnCana Corp. delivered a solid earnings report for the final three months of 2007 with a 63% gain to net profit.

With management trained on a bevy of exploration opportunities in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and its mounting success onshore in the Barnett Shale and Midcontinent, Devon Energy Corp.’s announcement last week to put its West African oil and gas assets on the market appeared to clarify the independent’s optimism about North American prospects.