Crude rose from a six-week low in New York as investors bet that the biggest weekly decline in almost three months is exaggerated.

Futures gained as much as 1 percent after falling 1.1 percent yesterday December 15, 2011 on reports that showed U.S. industrial production shrank for the first time since April and European factory output contracted. The dollar weakened against most of its major counterparts, buoying demand for commodities. Read more »

Clear Fork Royalty, LLC, an Oil & Gas acquisition company that focuses on the acquisition of oil and gas royalties, mineral rights, and overriding royalty interests, acquired a number of properties in the 3rd Quarter of 2011, including interest in the Barnett Shale in North Texas. The properties are located throughout the "core" of the play and spread in the the "combo" portion that contains an increased amount of liquids and oil. Read more »

Brent crude was little changed above $107 today December 13, 2011, after falling in the previous session, on concerns of demand growth as investors worried last week's pact by European leaders may not be enough to stop the region's debt crisis from worsening. Read more »

In its rapid ascent to become a top leaseholder in the Marcellus Shale, Chesapeake Energy came to West Virginia and put into play a strategy designed to narrow landowner rights and expand company control over all phases of the drilling cycle.

The Oklahoma City-based energy giant absorbed the region -- which sits above the natural gas rock formation -- in just a few months, driving down landowners' bargaining power, and in some cases preventing leases from expiring, locking landowners into those contracts indefinitely. Read more »