At the end of the day, oil and natural gas prices drive the drilling pace, forge the economics of acquisitions and the demand for capital. But experts have divergent views of where gas prices will settle. Whatever the price, companies’ bottom lines are on the line.

“We are positive toward oil and gas prices,” said Neal Dingmann, senior vice president of equity research, Wunderlich Securities, addressing attendees at Oil and Gas Investor’s recent Energy Capital Conference. “The wild cards are China and India and what OPEC will do.”Other wild cards ...