As an estimated 15,000 people filed down the aisles at this year's NAPE Expo in Houston, the industry's excitement was palpable-despite the recent drop in gas prices-and it wasn't just because of the freebies at many of the booths. "People are optimistic for higher gas prices in the long term, and that's why you have 15,000 people at NAPE," said Jim Benson, a founding partner of Dallas-based Energy Spectrum's A&D advisory practice. "This environment is indicative of how the market is going. People are positive and upbeat." A brief drop in gas prices might actually be a positive thing for the M&A market, said Dick Klauzinski of Houston-based divestment services firm Burks Oil & Gas Properties. "The drop in gas prices has made buyers interested again. When prices were going up, a lot of buyers were frozen in place. "They didn't want to buy at the top of the market. With 2006 being so slow, there is a lot of money sloshing around and a lot of it is going to turn into deals." For more on this, see the March issue of Oil and Gas Investor. For a subscription, call 713-260-6441.