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Denver is the third best city in the world for oil and gas explorers, according to a survey published by a trade group this week.

Rigzone, an employment and data clearinghouse, polled 8,000 industry executives and engineers to get their opinions on the cities with the most oil-and-gas growth and opportunity.

Some of the world's biggest oil and gas companies have a presence in Denver, including Halliburton, Noble Energy Inc., Anadarko Petroleum Corp., EnCana Corp., EOG Resources Inc., and GE Oil & Gas, to name a few.

"Innovation in multi-stage hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling technology has allowed the oil and gas industry to begin exploring Colorado's unconventional resources," the Rigzone ranking report reads.

"These resources include shale and tight sands within three basins. Of these plays, the Niobrara currently is the most active, according to a report by the Institute for 21st Century Energy. Some analysts have estimated the Niobrara, which is mainly a liquids-rich play, to hold reserves of approximately 2 billion barrels of recoverable oil reserves, according to the Colorado Oil & Gas Association," Rigzone reported.

Unconventional oil and gas work created 77,600 jobs in Colorado in 2012, according to the Institute for 21st Century Energy, and the number of jobs here uprooted by shale activity will grow to 121,398 in 2020 and 175,363 in 2035. Unconventional oil and gas activity contributed value-added economic activity of more than $11 billion in Colorado last year; that contribution is estimated to grow to more than $26 billion by 2035, Rigzone reported.

The nine-county Metro Denver and northern Colorado region ranked fourth for fossil fuel energy employment and seventh among the nation's 50 largest metros for clean technology development concentration in 2012, according to the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation.

Brent futures rose to the highest in nearly a month above $105 per barrel on Monday as an Israeli air strike on a Syrian military facility over the weekend stoked supply disruption worries from the Middle East.
Israeli officials said its second raid in days was aimed at stopping Lebanon's Hezbollah, an ally of Iran, from acquiring weapons that could be used to strike Tel Aviv if Israel follows through on threats to attack Iranian nuclear facilities. Iran denied its missiles were destined for Hezbollah and called on the region to unite against Israel.
Brent crude touched $105.49 a barrel, the highest since April 11, and was up 84 cents at $105.03 at 3.24am GMT. The contract extended Friday's gains that after better-than-expected job growth was reported in top oil consumer, the United States.
U.S. oil rose $1.11 to $96.72, after ending 1.7 percent up on Friday.
"Rising geopolitical worries have increased the risk premium on oil and the fear is that the Israeli attack is going to lead to a wider involvement of other nations in the Syrian conflict,” said Victor Shum, an oil consultant at IHS in Singapore. "That’s allowing oil to extend gains made on the back of strong jobs data in the United States."
U.S. payrolls rose more than expected in April, pushing the unemployment rate to a four-year low of 7.5 percent, easing concerns about a sharp slowdown in the economy. A revision also showed hiring was much stronger than previously thought in the prior two months, giving further relief to nervous investors.
The Dow and S&P 500 advanced to all-time closing highs on Friday as a result, and Asian shares and Shanghai copper gained on Monday as investors were willing to take on more risks.
The upside for oil is still likely to be capped by lingering worries over demand growth as the global economic outlook remains bleak amid ample supplies. Those twin factors may hold oil back from rising much from current levels and prompt investors to take profits from the surge unless the situation in the Middle East worsens, Shum said.
"The market today lacks physical tightness," said Shum. "So if you keep the latest geopolitical worries aside, there is no reason for prices to be where they are. If the situation does not worsen, we may see investors take profit from the rise."
Brent has gained as much as 9 percent in less than three weeks since the intraday low of $96.75 a barrel for the year, touched on April 18. It rose to a high of $119.17 on Jan. 2.
Weak economic data from the world's second-biggest oil consumer China and Europe's prolonged debt crisis have weighed on prices.
China's export growth is expected to slow to around 10 percent in the second quarter from 18 percent in January-March, the official China Securities Journal reported on Monday.
"Although the external environment facing China has improved, our country's strong export growth rate cannot be sustained as demand is still not strong and trade protection rises," the paper quoted a report from the State Information Office.
That could signal further reason for investors to worry about China's energy and raw materials demand.
Brent looks exhausted and may retrace to $104.30, while U.S. oil may fall to $95.72, as it faces a resistance at $97.05, according to Reuters’ technical analyst Wang Tao.

FANTASTIC..... Taking some profits for a bit.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) pumps at a Blu Transfuels filling station in Salt Lake City
(Fortune)
If you drive down I-15 past State Highway 160 in Beaver, Utah, you'll see a 30-foot-tall silo with white letters that spell out "Blu." Next to it is a truck stop. It is no ordinary truck stop. The silo contains liquefied natural gas (LNG) chilled to -200° F and ready to fuel specially outfitted 18-wheelers. The facility is owned by Blu Transfuels, a partnership between ENN, one of China's largest clean-energy companies, and CH4 Energy, a small outfit based in Salt Lake City. This year Blu expects to build 50 natural-gas filling stations nationwide.
Executives at ENN, drawn to the vast potential of America's fracking boom, plan to convert natural gas into a liquefied form and use it to power the country's fleet of 8 million heavy and medium-weight trucks, which account for 15% of U.S. oil consumption. The company, which has 30,000 employees, is familiar with the LNG business: It operates more than 238 natural-gas stations in 59 cities in China. Richard Peterson, executive VP of sales and marketing at Blu, says, "LNG will allow our transportation fleet to save money and at the same time reduce its carbon footprint by 25%."

ENN is not alone. Clean Energy, a company backed by T. Boone Pickens, says it will have about 150 natural-gas stations in 33 states by year-end. Shell's (RDSA) first LNG station opened in April in western Canada. Marvin Odum, president of Shell's upstream Americas business, says, "LNG has the potential to transform the transportation sector in a big way."
While LNG is cleaner and has the potential to be more cost-effective than diesel, the sticking point has been the price of LNG trucks, which cost roughly $80,000 more than diesels. That, too, is changing. As the cost of LNG trucks drops -- and it is dropping -- and more filling stations open, 18-wheelers will be able to make do with only one tank (most have two), which saves about $30,000. The new LNG trucks should cost only $30,000 to $40,000 more than diesels. Given that a typical 18-wheeler travels 100,000 miles a year at five miles per gallon and that LNG is about $1 to $1.50 a gallon cheaper than diesel, a driver can save as much as $30,000 a year in fuel -- a one-year payback. Many trucking companies lock in their fuel costs for five years, which would provide a total savings of $120,000 over the life of the contract.

RIFLE, Colo.- Encana's Annual Energy Expo returned to Garfield County on Wednesday, to educate the Western Slope on the latest energy advancements.

It’s been referred to as one of the area's most insightful events.

“We just think it’s a great community event,” said Doug Hock, director of public and community relations for Encana. “People have a lot of questions about energy production that is going on here in the community. We think this is a great way to interact with local folks, to answers those questions and to really help them learn about the activity that is going on.”

The rifle event featured nearly 90 companies and organizations, providing education, the latest industry updates, and tips to make your own home more energy efficient.

“They have questions about production, they have questions about environmental impacts, they have questions about land use, all different kinds of things,” said Hock.

Arsineh Hecobian is a research scientist from Colorado State University, and brought more than just her knowledge of air quality to Encana’s Energy Expo.

“We brought along some of our instruments and some of our vehicles here to show people how we are measuring,” said Hecobian.

Hecobian and the other university scientists are just getting started on a new comprehensive study on air impacts and are looking to spread the word on what they find.

“So people always want to know what we are measuring,” said Hecobian. “We are measuring gas compounds. They also want to know which activities we are targeting. This is drill and hydraulic fracturing activities.”

“This has gone way beyond our expectations,” said Sandy Kent, community relations advisor. “We are so grateful to be a part of this community and to be able to give back to the area where we operate and where we live.”

It’s Encana’s eleventh year they hosted the event. It brought in thousands.

LPIH ripe for Pickin !

....where u at bee-atches ?

Party is getting started ?

... have there head handed to them.

It's gonna be a riot on that rip-your-face rally.

Bunch of guppies.... Nokia technology underrated