One of the most recent natural gas plays, which spand six states in the Northeastern United States and is believed to hold as much as 500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas (the equivalent of about 80 billion barrels of oil), is the shale formation in the Marcellus basin (commonly known as "Marcellus Shale").

The Marcellus Shale formation is 400 million years old, stretching from New York to West Virginia, and is located at a depth between 4,000 and 8,500 feet below the surface, depending on location.

The Marcellus Shale is now being produced due to advances in technology, specifically horizontal driling and hydraulic fracturing. We have always known about the potential of the shale, but we couldn't extract the gaas in a cost-effective manner. The potential that the U.S. has with its vast shale resources (Marcellus and other shale plays) is endless. In order to really understand how important these technological innovations are, consider this: in the 1980's it was assumed that the U.S. had about 9 years worth of natural gas supply remaining - 28 years of growth and expansion later, it is estimated that we have 109 years of natural gas supply remaining, and that number grows with each shale discovery.

We are likely to see changes to leases and legislation in the coming years, similar to what we saw with the emergence of coalbed methane as a profitable and marketable resource. We have been closely following the developments in the industry, and are poised at the forefront of this new expansion, as we were with coalbed methane. There are many resources online for learning more about the Marcellus Shale. Please see our Useful Links page for links to more information.

If you need legal assistance regarding Marcellus Shale, whether as a landowner, mineral owner, or operator, please Contact Us. We would be happy to advise you.