In its continued quest to take significant stakes in North American unconventional resources, India-based Reliance Industries is once again rumored to be targeting yet a third U.S. large independent for a joint venture in a shale-gas play—or more.

Recently queried Keith Rattie, chairman, president and CEO of Questar Corp., discusses what the environmental implications would be of a subsea gas-well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, compared with a subsea oil-well blowout.

In this blog a few days ago, I wrote about Jim Bob Moffett, major domo of McMoRan Exploration Co., who spoke in Houston on the big Davy Jones find on the shallow-water shelf.