BIG FIND

According to the Houston Chronicle, Petrohawk Energy announced last year that it had found a massive new deposit of shale gas in south Texas, named Eagle Ford. But, with the looming economic crisis, the news went largely unnoticed -- except in the oil and gas industry. Although Eagle Ford, cautiously estimated to hold 19 trillion cubic feet of gas, is smaller than other shale fields in the Lower 48, like Marcellus, Haynesville and Barnett, its 'economics' are much better. The break-even price for production at Eagle Ford is $3.88 per million British thermal units; moreover, the field is close to pipelines and sits below south Texas ranch land -- and as one lessor said, "You can certainly make more money from wells than cows.