Hot Gas Companies To Own For 2014

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- In a throwback to a bygone era when financial markets were flush with human traders and tempers often ran high, an old-fashioned fight broke out Tuesday on the floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the largest physical commodity futures exchange in the world.

People who work on the floor of the Merc in lower Manhattan told TheStreet that two traders in the so-called 'open outcry pits,' where investors sell futures and options of precious metals, crude oil and natural gas, engaged in what might be euphemistically called a physical confrontation but which a half-dozen people interviewed described as including shoving or throwing punches.

The altercation became quite heated, according to four traders, one of whom said someone's shirt was ripped during the fracas. Two other traders called it a "fist fight." The two men were subsequently escorted from the building by security, said two security guards. 

Hot Medical Stocks To Invest In Right Now: SandRidge Permian Trust (PER)

SandRidge Permian Trust (the Trust) is a trust formed by SandRidge Energy, Inc. (SandRidge) to own royalty interests in 509 developed oil and natural gas wells located in Andrews County, Texas (the Producing Wells), and 888 oil and natural gas development wells to be drilled (the Development Wells) within an Area of Mutual Interest (AMI). The AMI consists of the Grayburg/San Andres formation in the Permian Basin in Andrews County, Texas. As of December 31, 2010, SandRidge held approximately 16,700 gross acres (15,900 net acres) in the AMI.The Underlying Properties consist of the working interest owned by SandRidge in the Permian Basin in Andrews County, Texas arising under leases and farmout agreements related to properties from which the PDP Royalty Interest and the Development Royalty Interest will be conveyed.

The royalty interest in the Producing Wells (PDP Royalty Interest) entitles the trust to receive 80% of the proceeds from the sale of production of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids attributable to SandRidge's net revenue interest in the Producing Wells. The royalty interest in the Development Wells the (Development Royalty Interest) entitles the trust to receive 70% of the proceeds from the sale of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids production attributable to SandRidge's net revenue interest in the Development Wells. As of March 31, 2011, after giving effect to the conveyance of the PDP Royalty Interest and the Development Royalty Interest to the trus, the total reserves estimated to be attributable to the trust were 21.8 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBoe). This amount includes 5.8 MMBoe attributable to the PDP Royalty Interest and 16.0 MMBoe attributable to the Development Royalty Interest. The reserves consist of 96% liquids (87% oil and 9% natural gas liquids) and 4% natural gas.

SandRidge is an independent oil and natural gas company concentrating on development and production activities related to the exploitation of its significant holdings! in West Texas and the Mid-Continent area of Oklahoma and Kansas. SandRidge operates all of the Producing Wells. SandRidge owns a majority working interest in substantially all of the locations, on which it focuses to drill the Development Wells, and focuses to operate such wells. SandRidge Exploration and Production, LLC (SandRidge E&P) is a wholly owned subsidiary of SandRidge.

The Underlying Properties are located in the greater Fuhrman-Mascho field area, a region in Andrews County, Texas that primarily produces oil from the Grayburg/San Andres formation within the Permian Basin. SandRidge operates three drilling rigs within the AMI and, as of March 31, 2011, had drilled 101 wells. Within the AMI, SandRidge operates 509 wells and has 888 proven undeveloped locations as of March 31, 2011. These 888 proven locations are a combination of 5-acre, 10-acre and 20-acre infill spacing locations. As of March 31, 2011, average daily production from the Underlying Properties was approximately 3,400 barrel of oil equivalent per day (Boe/d).

Permian Basin

The Permian Basin extends throughout southwest Texas and southeast New Mexico over an area approximately 250 miles wide and 300 miles long. It is an oil producing basin in the United States. As of December 31, 2010, SandRidge operated approximately 2,600 gross producing wells in the Permian Basin, with an average working interest of 94%. In March 2011, SandRidge's average daily net production in the Permian Basin was approximately 29,600 Boe/d. SandRidge was operating 16 rigs in the basin as of March 31, 2011. SandRidge drilled 484 wells in this area during the year ended December 31, 2010.

Fuhrman-Mascho Field

The Fuhrman-Mascho field is located near the center of the Central Basin Platform in the Permian Basin. The field produces from the Grayburg/San Andres formation from average depths of approximately 4,000 to 5,000 feet. The Fuhrman-Mascho field is a producing field in the Permian Basin and! it has p! roduced approximately 142 MMBoe as of December 31, 2010. During 2010, SandRidge operated eight drilling rigs in the area and has drilled 307 wells as of March 31, 2011.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  The problem here is that SandRidge has been�dependent�on asset sales and its running out of assets to sell. In addition to the Permian sale, SandRidge has now taken three royalty trusts public. One consisting of Permian Basin assets, SandRidge Permian Trust (NYSE: PER  ) and two consisting of Mississippian assets, SandRidge Mississippian Trust I (NYSE: SDT  ) and SandRidge Mississippian Trust II (NYSE: SDR  ) . While SandRidge still owns a portion of each trust, it likely will continue to sell off its ownership stake in each trust as well as other assets it still owns. At some point SandRidge will need to live within its oil and gas cash flows, otherwise, its not worth owning.�

Hot Gas Companies To Own For 2014: Markwest Energy Partners LP (MWE)

MarkWest Energy Partners, L.P. (MarkWest Energy) is a master limited partnership engaged in the gathering, processing and transportation of natural gas; the transportation, fractionation, storage and marketing of natural gas liquids (NGLs), and the gathering and transportation of crude oil. It provides services in the midstream sector of the natural gas industry. The Company also provides processing and fractionation services to crude oil refineries in the Corpus Christi, Texas area through its Javelina gas processing and fractionation facility. As of December 31, 2011, the Company operated in four segments: Southwest, Northeast, Liberty and Gulf Coast. Effective December 31, 2011, the Company acquired the remaining 49% interest in MarkWest Liberty Midstream. On February 1, 2011, the Company acquired Langley processing plant.

Southwest Segment

The Company owns a system in East Texas that consists of natural gas gathering pipelines, centralized compressor stations, a natural gas processing facility and an NGL pipeline. The East Texas system is located in Panola, Harrison and Rusk Counties and services the Carthage Field. Producing formations in Panola County consist of the Cotton Valley, Pettit, Travis Peak and Haynesville formations. During the year ended December 31, 2011, approximately 77% of its natural gas volumes in the East Texas System result from contracts with six producers. The Company sells substantially all of the purchased and retained NGLs produced at its East Texas processing facility to Targa Resources Partners, L.P. (Targa) under a long-term contract. Such sales represent approximately 19.4% of its consolidated revenue in 2011.

The Company owns a natural gas gathering system in the Woodford Shale play in the Arkoma Basin of southeast Oklahoma. The liquids-rich natural gas gathered in the Woodford system is processed through Centrahoma Processing LLC (Centrahoma), its equity investment, or other third-party processors. In addition, it owns the Foss Lake! natural gas gathering system and the Western Oklahoma natural gas processing complex, all located in Roger Mills, Beckham, Custer and Ellis Counties of western Oklahoma. The gathering portion consists of a pipeline system that is connected to natural gas wells and associated compression facilities. The Company also owns a gathering system in the Granite Wash formation in Wheeler County in the Texas panhandle that is connected to its Western Oklahoma processing complex. The Company completed the expansion of the Western Oklahoma natural gas processing plant in October 2011.

Approximately 70% of its Oklahoma volumes result from contracts with three producers in 2011. The Company sells substantially all of the NGLs produced in the Western Oklahoma processing complex to ONEOK Hydrocarbon L.P. (ONEOK) under a long-term contract. Such sales represent approximately 13.2% of its consolidated revenue in 2011. The Company owns a number of natural gas gathering systems located in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and New Mexico, including the Appleby gathering system in Nacogdoches County, Texas. It gathers a portion of the gas produced from fields adjacent to its gathering systems, including from wells targeting the Haynesville Shale. In addition, it owns four lateral pipelines in Texas and New Mexico.

Northeast Segment

The Company�� Northeast segment assets include the Kenova, Boldman, Cobb, Kermit and Langley natural gas processing plants, an NGL pipeline and the Siloam NGL fractionation plant. In addition, it has two caverns for storing propane at its Siloam facility and additional propane storage capacity under a long-term firm-capacity agreement with a third party. The Northeast segment operations include fractionation and marketing services on behalf of the Liberty segment. The Company owns and operates a crude oil pipeline in Michigan (Michigan Crude Pipeline) providing transportation service for three shippers.

Liberty Segment

The Company pr! ovides na! tural gas midstream services in southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia through MarkWest Liberty Midstream. It is a processor of natural gas in the Marcellus Shale, with gathering, processing, fractionation, storage and marketing operations.

Utica Segment

Effective January 1, 2012, the Company and The Energy and Minerals Group (EMG) formed MarkWest Utica EMG, a joint venture focused on the development of natural gas processing and NGL fractionation, transportation and marketing infrastructure to serve producers' drilling programs in the Utica shale in eastern Ohio. During 2011, the Utica Segment did not have any operations.

Gulf Coast Segment

The Company owns and operates the Javelina processing facility, a natural gas processing facility in Corpus Christi, Texas that treats and processes off-gas from six local refineries operated by three different refinery customers. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned a 40% interest in Centrahoma Processing LLC (Centrahoma), a joint venture with Cardinal Midstream, LLC (Cardinal). Centrahoma owns certain processing plants in the Arkoma Basin and Cardinal operates an additional processing plant that is not owned by Centrahoma but is located adjacent to and operates in conjunction with the Centrahoma plants.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By David Dittman]

  Question: Thoughts on MarkWest Energy Partners LP (NYSE: MWE)? I live in Western Pennsylvania, and MarkWest hass been laying pipeline everywhere.

  Answer: The pullback since mid-March offers a good opportunity to buy MarkWest Energy under 66. Management recently boosted the quarterly distribution rate by 1.2 percent and increased the MLP’s revolving credit facility to $1.3 billion and extended its maturity by 18 months to March 2019.

Hot Gas Companies To Own For 2014: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC)

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) is an India-based company. The Company is mainly engaged in the oil exploration and production activities. The Company operates in two segments: Offshore and Onshore. Its subsidiaries include ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL), Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd., ONGC Nile Ganga BV, ONGC Narmada Limited, ONGC Amazon Alaknanda Limited, ONGC Campos Ltda, ONGC Nile Ganga (Cyprus) Ltd. and ONGC Nile Ganga (San Cristobal) B.V. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonathan Burgos]

  India�� biggest energy companies rose after the government agreed to raise the price of natural gas. Reliance Industries Ltd., operator of the world�� biggest oil refining complex, climbed 3.1 percent to 855.2 rupees in Mumbai. Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) added 1.7 percent to 325.70 rupees.

• [By Lyubov Pronina]

  Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) and Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC), India�� biggest energy explorers, led Indian stocks higher as the nation�� cabinet agreed to lift the price of natural gas. The rupee posted the biggest quarterly drop since 2011.

Hot Gas Companies To Own For 2014: Midstates Petroleum Company Inc (MPO)

Midstates Petroleum Company, Inc. is an independent exploration and production company. The Company�� areas of operation include Pine Prairie, South Bearhead Creek/Oretta, West Gordon and North Cowards Gully. Its Upper Gulf Coast Tertiary trend extends from south Texas to Mississippi across its operating areas in central Louisiana. As of December 31, 2011, it had accumulated approximately 77,100 net acres in the trend. As of December 31, 2011, its development operations are focused in the Wilcox interval of the trend. The Company�� business is conducted through Midstates Petroleum Company LLC, as a direct, wholly owned subsidiary. In September 2012, the Company and its subsidiary acquired all of Eagle Energy Production, LLC�� producing properties as well as their developed and undeveloped acreage primarily in the Mississippian Lime oil play in Oklahoma and Kansas.

As of December 31, 2011, it drilled 57 gross wells in the trend, approximately 93% of. During the year ended December 31, 2011, its average daily production were 7,499 barrels of oil equivalent per day. As of December 31, 2011, it had a total of 974 gross vertical drilling locations, including 115 related to acreage under option, in the trend. As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� properties included approximately 92 gross active producing wells, 95% of, which it operate, and in which it held an average working interest of approximately 99% across its 77,100 net acre leasehold. During March 31, 2012, the Company continued its drilling program, spudding 14 wells, of which nine are producing, three are being drilled and two are waiting to be completed. As of December 331, 2011, it averaged daily production is approximately 9,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Pine Prairie

The Company�� properties in the Pine Prairie area represented 46% of its total proved reserves as of December 31, 2011. During 2011, the Company�� average production from these properties was 3,793 net barrels of oil equ! ivalent per day, consisting of 2,143 barrels of oil, 565 barrels of natural gas liquidations (NGLs) and 6,508 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. As of December 31, 2011, it held an average working interest and average net revenue interest of 92.2% and 68.9%, respectively, on its acreage in Pine Prairie area. The Company has an additional 194 identified drilling locations in this area based primarily on 10-acre spacing.

South Bearhead Creek/Oretta

The Company�� properties in the South Bearhead Creek/Oretta area represented 20.3% of its total proved reserves as of December 31, 2011. During 2011, the Company�� average production from these properties was 4,367 net barrels of oil equivalent per day, consisting of 2,196 barrels of oil, 438 barrels of NGLs and 10,396 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. During 2011, these wells produced at an average daily rate of 2,413 net barrels of oil equivalent per day. As of December 31, 2011, it held an average working interest and average net revenue interest of 100% and 78.5%, respectively, on its acreage in South Bearhead Creek/Oretta area. The Company has an additional 43 identified drilling locations in this area based primarily on 40-acre spacing.

West Gordon

The Company�� properties in the West Gordon area represented 21% of its total proved reserves as of December 31, 2011. During 2011, the Company�� average production from these properties was 1,002 net barrels of oil equivalent per day, consisting of 617 barrels of oil, 68 barrels of NGLs and 1,901 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. As of December 31, 2011, it held an average working interest and average net revenue interest of 95.9% and 71.2%, respectively, on its acreage in West Gordon area. The Company has an additional 74 identified drilling locations in this area based primarily on 40-acre spacing.

North Cowards Gully

The Company�� properties in the North Cowards Gully area represented 11.5% of ! its total! proved reserves as of December 31, 2011. During 2011, the Company�� average production from these properties was 149 net barrels of oil equivalent per day consisting of 103 barrels of oil, 11 barrels of NGLs, and 211 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. As of December 31, 2011, it held an average working interest and average net revenue interest of 94.3% and 71.2%, respectively, on its acreage in North Cowards Gully area. The Company has an additional 95 identified drilling locations in this area based primarily on 40-acre spacing.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Midstates Petroleum (MPO) has surged 21% to $3.46 after the independent E&P company easily topped analyst earnings forecasts.

  Jamba (JMBA) has tumbled 9% to $11.74 after the juice store missed the Street’s earnings and revenue expectations. Jamba also announced a $25 million share buyback program.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  One energy player that's starting to move within range of triggering a major breakout trade is Midstates Petroleum (MPO), an independent exploration and production company focused on the application of modern drilling and completion techniques to oil-prone resources. This stock is off to a rough start in 2013, with shares off by 30%.

  If you look at the chart for Midstates Petroleum, you'll notice that this stock has recently come out of a nasty downtrend that took shares from over $8 to its low of $4.26 a share. Shares of MPO have started to find some buying interest over the last month at $4.44, 4.26 and $4.48 a share, as the stock has held those levels on recent pullbacks. This could be signaling that a bottom is forming for MPO, since the downside volatility looks over. Shares of MPO are now rebounding strong off those support levels and are quickly moving within range of triggering a major breakout trade.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in MPO if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $4.82 a share and then once it takes out its 50-day moving average at $5.30 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 542,939 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then MPO will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $6 to its 200-day moving average of $6.54 a share.

  Traders can look to buy MPO off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some key near-term support levels at $4.48 or $4.26 a share. One can also buy MPO off strength once it takes out those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

• [By The Energy Report]

  Onshore, my favorite play is the Utica Shale, in which my top plays are Gulfport Energy Corp. (GPOR) and Rex Energy Corp. (REXX). Both companies have highly economic acreage, solid balance sheets and industry-leading production growth. I also like Rex Energy for its likely production upside. Another one of my favorite plays is the Eagle Ford Shale, in which my top plays are Penn Virginia Corp. (PVA) and Sanchez Energy Corp. (SN). Both have core acreage in the region, improving operating results and experienced management. Another favorite name of mine is Midstates Petroleum Co. Inc. (MPO). The company has assets in three solid plays and a management team with a long successful track record. Those are my favorite names at this time.

Hot Gas Companies To Own For 2014: QEP Resources Inc (QEP)

QEP Resources, Inc. (QEP), incorporated on May 17, 2010, is a holding company. The Company operates in three lines of business: gas and oil exploration and production, midstream field services, and energy marketing. It conducted through three principal subsidiaries: QEP Energy Company (QEP Energy) acquires, explores for, develops and produces natural gas, oil, and natural gas liquids (NGL); QEP Field Services Company (QEP Field Services) provides midstream field services, including natural gas gathering, processing, compression and treating services for affiliates and third parties; andQEP Marketing Company (QEP Marketing) markets affiliate and third-party natural gas and oil, provides risk-management services, and owns and operates an underground gas-storage reservoir. QEP operates in the Northern and Southern Regions of the United States and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Principal offices are located in Denver, Colorado; Salt Lake City, Utah; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Tulsa, Oklahoma.

QEP�� exploration and production business is conducted through QEP Energy in two core regions, the Northern Region (including the states of Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and North Dakota) and the Southern Region (including the states of Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana). QEP Energy has approximately 50,800 net acres of Haynesville Shale lease rights in northwest Louisiana and additional lease rights that cover the Hosston and Cotton Valley formations. The depth of the top of the Haynesville Shale ranges from approximately 10,500 feet to 12,500 feet across QEP Energy�� leasehold and is below the Hosston and Cotton Valley formations that QEP Energy has been developing in northwest Louisiana for over a decade. As of December 31, 2011, QEP Energy had three operated rigs drilling in the project area. QEP Energy�� Midcontinent properties cover all properties in the Southern Region except the Haynesville/Cotton Valley area of northwest Louisiana and are distributed over an area, including the ! Anadarko Basin of Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle. QEP Energy has approximately 77,000 net acres of Woodford Shale lease rights in western Oklahoma. QEP Energy has approximately 38,700 net acres of Granite Wash/Atoka Wash lease rights in the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma and has been drilling vertical Granite Wash/Atoka Wash wells. The Company estimates that up to 1,100 additional wells will be required to fully develop its Pinedale acreage on a combination of 5 and 10-acre density. In addition to QEP Energy�� gross producing wells, QEP Energy had an overriding royalty interest in an additional 21 wells at Pinedale. QEP Energy owns interests in approximately 255,200 net leasehold acres in the Uinta Basin. The remainder of QEP Energy Northern Region leasehold interests, productive wells and proved reserves are distributed over a number of fields and properties managed as the Rockies Legacy division. Exploration and development activity during the year ended December 31, 2011, includes wells in the Powder River and Greater Green River Basins in Wyoming and the Williston Basin in North Dakota. QEP Energy has approximately 90,000 net acres of lease rights in the Williston Basin in western North Dakota, where the Company is targeting the Bakken and Three Forks formations.

QEP Energy Company

QEP Energy is actively involved in several of North America�� hydrocarbon resource plays. QEP�� exploration and production activities are conducted through QEP Energy. P Energy operates in two core regions: the Northern Region (including the states of Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and North Dakota) and the Southern Region (including the states of Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana). The Southern Region contributed approximately 56% of 2011 production while the Northern Region contributed the remaining 44%. QEP Energy reported 3,614 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent of estimated proved reserves as of December 31, 2011. Of those estimated proved reserves, approximately 64%! , or 2,31! 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent, were located in the Northern Region at December 31, 2011. The remaining 36%, or 1,302 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent at December 31, 2011, were located in the Southern Region. QEP Energy has an inventory of identified development drilling locations, primarily on the Pinedale Anticline in western Wyoming; the Haynesville/Cotton Valley area in northwestern Louisiana; the Midcontinent area with properties primarily in Oklahoma and Texas; the Uinta Basin in eastern Utah, and the Rockies Legacy, which includes the Bakken/Three Forks area in western North Dakota and other properties in Wyoming.

QEP Field Services Company

QEP invests in midstream (gathering, processing and treating) systems to complement its natural gas, oil and natural gas liquids (NGL) operations in regions where QEP Energy has production. In addition, QEP�� midstream business also provides midstream services to third-party customers, including independent producers. QEP Field Services owns various natural gas gathering, treating and processing facilities in the Northern and Southern Regions as well as 78% of Rendezvous Gas Services, LLC, (RGS), a partnership that operates gas gathering facilities in western Wyoming. The FERC-regulated Rendezvous Pipeline Co., LLC (Rendezvous Pipeline), a wholly owned subsidiary of QEP Field Services, operates a 21-mile, 20-inch-diameter pipeline between QEP Field Services��Blacks Fork gas-processing plant and the Muddy Creek compressor station owned by Kern River Gas Transmission Co. (Kern River Pipeline). RGS gathers natural gas for Pinedale Anticline and Jonah Field producers for delivery to various interstate pipelines. QEP Field Services also owns 38% of Uintah Basin Field Services, LLC (UBFS) and 50% of Three Rivers Gathering, LLC (Three Rivers). These two partnerships operate natural gas gathering facilities in eastern Utah.

QEP Marketing Company

QEP Marketing provides wholesale market! ing and s! ales of affiliate and third-party natural gas, oil and NGL. As a wholesale marketing entity, QEP Marketing concentrates on markets in the Rocky Mountains, Pacific Northwest and Midcontinent that are either close to affiliate reserves and production or accessible by pipelines. QEP Marketing contracts for firm-transportation capacity on pipelines and firm-storage capacity at Clay Basin, a baseload-storage facility. QEP Marketing, through its subsidiary Clear Creek Storage Company, LLC, owns and operates an underground gas-storage reservoir in southwestern Wyoming. QEP Marketing uses owned and leased storage capacity together with firm-transportation capacity.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Aimee Duffy]

  QEP Midstream Partners is about to become a real, live master limited partnership. Parent company QEP Resources (NYSE: QEP  ) has filed the appropriate paperwork with the SEC, and while we don't know specifics regarding the number of shares, or how the offering will be priced, the S-1 is chock-full of information for prospective investors.

• [By Claudia Assis]

  Top gainers among energy companies on the S&P 500 index included Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) , with shares up 3.5%. QEP Resources Inc. (QEP) �shares advanced 2.7%.

Hot Gas Companies To Own For 2014: Talisman Energy Inc.(TLM)

Talisman Energy Inc., an upstream oil and gas company, engages in the exploration, development, production, transportation, and marketing of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. It primarily operates in North America, the North Sea, and southeast Asia. The company was founded in 1925 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bruce Kennedy]

  The EIA examined annual reports from 42 oil and natural gas companies, from giants like Brazil's Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) and ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) to smaller firms like Talisman Energy (NYSE: TLM) and Encana (NYSE: ECA) ��companies that reportedly made up about 40 percent of non-OPEC production last year, and that had combined market capitalization of over $2.4 trillion.

• [By Sara Murphy]

  However, some are clearly more engaged than others. Encana (NYSE: ECA  ) and Talisman Energy (NYSE: TLM  ) have joined seven other natural gas producers to team up with the Environmental Defense Fund at the University of Texas at Austin to estimate their methane emission rates. It's too soon to know what they will do with this information, but the very fact that they're participating suggests that they intend to manage the problem.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Shares of Talisman Energy (NYSE: TLM) jumped more than 8% in after-hours trading after Carl Icahn disclosed a stake in the company. Talisman Energy shares surged 8.94% to $13.89 in the after-hours trading session.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Talisman Energy (TLM) has fallen 3% to $10.37 on reports that discussions with Repsol about a potential asset sale have stalled.

  Tiffany (TIF) has risen 2.6% to $103.40 after the luxury retailer easily topped earnings and revenue forecasts and lifted its full year guidance.