I noticed the following this morning on Marketwatch:

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Ultra Petroleum Corp. /quotes/comstock/13*!upl/quotes/nls/upl (UPL 51.06, +1.21, +2.43%) said it'll pay $400 million to buy 80,000 acres in the Pennsylvania Marcellus shale, from an unnamed private company. Following the acquisition, Ultra Petroleum will hold approximately 250,000 net acres in this region, with the potential for 1,800 net drilling locations. Ultra Petroleum will finance the acquisition using debt. The Houston-based natural gas producer expects the transaction to close in late February 2010.

This has implications for valuation of the Utica shales, n'est-ce-pas?

Best wishes to all,

Joel