The oily Niobrara, Bakken and Eagle Ford shales are proving to be the shiny new toys in many E&P portfolios, taking the spotlight at prominent oil and gas conferences this year.

However, "lots of plays not on the front page merit watching that have us working harder than ever,"  Michael Bodino, energy research director at Global Hunter Securities LLC, said in an Aug. 25 research note.

A recent attendee at EnerCom's The Oil & Gas Conference held in Denver this week, Bodino outlined key takeaways from the conference, which he ...