By Danny Boyd Special Correspondent For independent operators of all sizes, the middle is indeed a very good place to be. From unconventional plays such as the SCOOP and STACK trends in Oklahoma to conventional vertical drilling in Kansas targeting structures delineated by 3-D seismic, the compelling economic payback of deploying technology-based strategies in the Mid-Continent are being augmented by the strongest commodity prices in years. The sunny bottom-line results are amplifying the incentive for operators to fire up new-well drilling and development projects, and re-examine existing inventories of producing assets to look for unrealized upside with refracturing. As summer approaches, independents are setting their operational sights on targets as diverse as oilrich Hoxbar/Marchand tight formations in South-Central Oklahoma, liquids-rich natural gas intervals in the STACK in the Anadarko Basin, shallow carbonates yielding mid-gravity crude oil in North-Central Kansas and refracturing gas wells in the Barnett Shale in North Texas. 38 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER