New York

From Wikimarcellus

The State of New York has been the home of roughly 75,000 oil, salt, and natural gas wells since the 1800s. More than 13,500 of these were active during 2008 producing more than 50 billion cubic feet (BCF) of natural gas, the fourth highest total in state history. These wells are concentrated in Western New York and the Southern Tier. Much recent activity has focused on drilling in the Marcellus shale formation which is prevalent in the south-central part of the state. However, as of July, 2009 new drilling continued to be on hold while the NY DEC assesses the environmental impacts of hydro-fracturing and prepared a draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement. Update: The draft is available and open to public comment up until December 31, 2009.

Another major shale formation in New York is the Utica shale.

The prospective area in the State for the Utica and Marcellus shale formations roughly is the region reaching from Chautauqua County eastward to Greene, Sullivan and Ulster counties. as well as Broome County, home of Binghampton, NY.

Drilling in the Trenton-Black River (TBR) formation has actually been the most prolific source of gas in the state since the 1990s, particularly in its Finger Lakes region. Around 100 TBR wells produced somewhere over 35 BCF of natural gas during 2008--well over half of the gas produced in New York State that year.

The most productive counties for natural gas in the state are:

• First place -- Chemung
• Second place -- Steuben
• Third place -- Chautauqua