Pennsylvania

From Wikimarcellus

Gas exploration, drilling and production is well under way in parts of Northeast, Central and Southwest Pennsylvania, along the line by which the Appalachian ridges diagonally cut across the state.

Areas in northcentral and northeastern Pennsylvania that have never before seen very much gas well drilling are expected to be especially prospective for Marcellus shale. It underlies approximately two-thirds of the state.

Drilling hotspots include the rural counties of Bradford, Lackawanna, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming in the northeastern part of the State, Westmoreland in the west, and Greene and Washington Counties in the southwest.

Pennsylvania hot spots are in orange—other prospective areas in beige.
Courtesy of Range Resources[1]

According to one estimate, by 2008, natural gas exploration companies have already spent roughly $2 billion for drilling rights in the State, seismic testing, and other tasks in pursuit of Marcellus shale gas.

Since 2005, in excess of 500 drilling permits have been approved for drilling operations in the Marcellus shale areas of Pennsylvania. At least half of these were issued during 2008 making for a recent groundswell of interest in drilling this formation.

According to an October, 2008 report, Marcellus shale drilling is taking place on roughly 275 well sites in the State, but so far fewer than 20 wells are actually producing gas.

Another October report stated that the shale formation is at its thickest in Bradford County, Pennsylvania. 3,644 new leases for drilling rights were recorded there during the first nine months of 2008. Bradford County is where Pennsylvania's oil boom of the 1860s first began.

As of 2008, most gas pipeline infrastructure is located primarily in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Central and Northeastern Pennsylvania have very little infrastructure since most drilling has been comparatively recent in these parts of the State, and there has been little need for it.