By Anna Driver HOUSTON (Reuters) – George Phydias Mitchell, a petroleum engineer who transformed the natural gas industry by using hydraulic fracturing to pull the fuel out of shale formations, died of natural causes at the age of 94 on Friday. A native of Galveston, Texas, who rose from modest means to become a billionaire philanthropist, he was the chairman and chief executive officer of Mitchell Energy & Development Corp, which was sold to Devon Energy Corp for $3.5 billion in 2002. His death was announced on the website of his foundation. …
