...to maintain safety of principal while maximizing total return." If the permanent fund invests $5 billion into the gas venture, this would represent about 14 percent of today's $35 billion value of the fund and would be much larger than any...

...process during the past decade, earning nearly 300 patents, said Ben Eisenberg, the technical project manager for gas ventures at Exxon Research and Engineering Co. in Florham Park, N.J. ``The industry is finding remote gas faster than...