Energy companies swarm the Rockies

Oil and gas producers are stampeding to the Rockies. With natural gas prices hitting all-time highs and Gulf of Mexico production still recovering from a hurricane-plagued year, energy companies — many with ties to Houston — are drilling up long-neglected fields.

The Rockies are thought to hold enough gas to heat and cool 70 million homes for nearly half a century, the National Petroleum Council estimates. But those resources are usually found in hard-to-produce deposits.

In their headlong rush, the energy companies are helping transform the nation’s least populous state, where pronghorn antelope are said to still outnumber people.

Chron.com