McMoRan: Gas From Shelf Can Get To Market Quicker

ALAN SAYRE

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Natural gas produced from deep in the earth from the shallow-water shelf of the Gulf of Mexico could get to market years before energy is available from drilling in the depths of the region, an energy company head said Wednesday.

McMoRan Exploration Co., which has become a major player in "deep gas," is looking at regions on the shelf that could eventually produce trillions of cubic feet of natural gas if exploratory wells pan out, McMoRan co-chairman James Moffett said.

"That's going to be a new hunting ground for all of us," Moffett told investment analysts at the Howard Weil Energy Conference. ...