"Shale Deals Lifting U.S. Oil and Gas Explorer Stocks" (CHK; DVN)

Now all we need is Iran to block the flow of Mideast oil, the Keystone XL pipeline to remain tied up by the bureaucracy and Congress to pass  HR1380 during an election year.
There's an awful lot of gas available and the house bill or the companion S.1863 would start burning some of the oversupply off.
In the meantime the WSJ's Deal Journal appears to have switched from an all-talk format to W-NAT, all natural gas all the time.
First up, the headline post:

Stocks are popping for U.S. oil and gas explorers despite natural gas prices continuing their fall below Friday’s two-year low.

Sure, there’s a broad stock rally, but here’s two factors lifting U.S. E&Ps today: The main U.S. crude price is up more than 4% at $102.81 a barrel and a pair of $2 billion-plus joint ventures show that international buyers are still willing to pay big for a piece of the U.S. shale boom.

Chesapeake Energy Corp., up nearly 4% to $23.11, after confirming $2.32 billion joint venture with French oil major Total SA. Total is paying $610 million up front for a 25% stake in an oily slice of Chesapeake’s Utica Shale discovery in eastern Ohio and will fund $1.42 billion in drilling and development there over the next three years.

Meanwhile, Chesapeake’s cross-town rival Devon Energy Corp., is up more than 6% at $65.88 on its own drilling pact with a foreign buyer.

Devon said China’s Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration & Production Corp. has agreed to pay $2.2 billion for a 30% piece of five developing U.S. shale plays, including it’s own piece of Ohio’s Utica....MORE

Also at Deal Journal:
Deals Give Chesapeake Cash, Now What Will Explorer Do With It?

The French and Chinese Are Digging in Your Yard for Natural Gas