U.S. companies looking to shale, this time for oil
NEW YORK/HOUSTON, March 17 (Reuters) - Independent U.S. oil and gas companies are scrambling to pick up land where oil is trapped in shale formations in a bid to benefit from relatively high prices for the commodity.
Companies and investors are increasingly scouring the country for shales rich in oil and natural gas liquids rather than the gas-rich shales that had been the focus of a series of recent deals.
As a result, the Niobrara Shale in Colorado and the Bakken Shale in North Dakota have started to replace hot names like the Haynesville and Marcellus shales as the "next big thing."