"Where are we today?" In answering that, John Olson, the acclaimed, 35-year oil and gas analyst who is now a private investor, was reminded recently of visiting an oil and gas producer 25 years ago in Dallas. "We had been in a gas bubble for five or six years at the time. He wanted to know what to do. I said, 'Maybe you should consider never drilling another natural gas well.'"

After some consideration, the producer said to him, "You know, I've been drilling natural gas wells for 58 years ...