Out Fox The $treet

Interesting research from Global Hunter Securities suggesting that a lot of shale producers are willing to increase capital spending when oil sits around the current WTI prices of $55. If so, this is bullish for airlines, consumer stocks, and even oil services firms. The move is bearish for E&P firms needing oil prices above $55. Disclosure: Long airlines and oil services firms. Please review the disclaimer page for more details.

 After more than doubling in value in the last couple of years, EOG Resources Inc ( NYSE: EOG     ) is now large enough to be counted as an oil major. The valuation has surged to over $60 billion, yet the company continues to produce substantial growth rates from oil production.  EOG Resources is now slightly larger than  Anadarko Petroleum Corporation ( NYSE: APC     ) and has long passed Apache Corp ( NYSE: APA     ) due to industry-leading growth for its size from identifying and developing new shale plays, especially in oil-rich areas.  Read the full article here .  Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please read the disclaimer page for ore details.

As the US shale boom produces a bounty of dry gas and now even oil, the promises of a shale gas revolution in Europe and China is fading quickly. It may still happen, but it might take a decade to develop different techniques as the methods that worked in the US clearly aren't going to work in places such as Poland where population density and harder rocks make it a more complex and costly endeavor. The shale boom had great promise in helping Poland and the rest of Europe lessen dependence on expensive Russian supplies. Instead, the Polish Geological Institute recently cut the estimated gas reserves by 85 percent. Now before even starting, major US corporations like Exxon Mobil (XOM), Chevron Corp (CVX) and ConocoPhillips (COP) are faced with doubts about whether the drilling will ever be feasible even if the gas does exist. This is a far cry from the scenario in the US where the technologies have already proven. Read full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long COP. Pleas...

Interesting article from the Financial Times about a subject I've wondered about as well. Will the surge in land prices for US shale oilfields last? Every time you read an article, one wonders why Chesapeake Energy (CHK) can't translate purchases of acres at $1,400 that is sold for $15,000 into huge stock price gains. Also, it amazes me that none of the major energy companies with vast cash hoards aren't able to beat CHK to the punch for cheap acres. Ultimately the issue with Chesapeake is that it requires a ton of debt to grab all this land and hold onto it until it is able to drill and recover oil or nat gas. The big surge in nat gas production from these shale plays have already led to a price collapse in the domestic market. The recent expansion into oil plays isn't likely to cause the same collapse in price as oil is an international market. If nat gas was an international market as well, prices wouldn't have collapsed. Asian and European users pay doubl...