Discussions of alternative energy sources are easy to come by these days. The idea sounds nice—finding cleaner sources of energy to provide limitless power for our economy would be quite a boon—if the economics made these sources viable.

An interesting review of the technological and scientific challenges posed by deepwater drilling beyond simply the water’s depth.

Increased regulation and costs to oil drillers in the Gulf may well push smaller players out in favor of larger companies—a potential unintended consequence of legislation swirling in the wake of the Macondo spill.

Cubic foot (cf):  The standard unit of measure of natural gas used in assessing production output and other metrics. The Energy Information Administration defines it as: “the amount of natural gas contained at standard temperature and pressure (60 degrees Fahrenheit and 14.73 pounds standard per square inch) in a cube whose edges are one foot long.”