America’s shale gas drillers are back to looking for the next big play. On Wednesday, Gulfport Energy Corp. struck a deal to buy acreage in an oil and natural gas field in Oklahoma known as Scoop for $1.85 billion, marking its first foray in a region that Newfield Exploration Co. has devoted most of its capital budget to and Devon Energy Corp. invested almost $2 billion in late last year. Gulfport Chief Executive Officer Michael Moore described the acreage as a “sizeable and scalable footprint in a new operating area.” The deal underscores renewed interest among drillers in exploring emerging plays outside the heart of the U.S. shale gas boom — the Marcellus formation of the Appalachian Basin. The number of rigs drilling outside major basins has rebounded to the highest levels since February […]