Consol selling some Marcellus interests for $3.4B (AP)

GASSING UP: Consol Energy will sell half of its interest in its Marcellus Shale holdings in Pennsylvania and West Virginia for $3.4 billion to Noble Energy, giving Noble access to the lucrative Marcellus natural gas market.

ANALYSTS' TAKE: Michael McAllister and Tim Rezvan with Sterne, Agee & Leach Equity Research said the deal works out to about $7,100 per acre, which is "in line with what Chevron paid for Atlas Energy," in a $4.3 billion acquisition in February.

MIGHTY MARCELLUS: The Marcellus Shale is one of the biggest natural gas fields in the world. It has been a hotbed of activity for energy companies extracting natural gas from shale with a process known as "fracking." Environmentalists have expressed concerns about groundwater contamination from chemicals used to get to the gas.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110818/ap_on_bi_ge/us_consol_energy_noble_summary_box

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