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The Marcellus Shale contains about 84 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas and 3.4 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas liquids according to a new assessment by the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS). These gas estimates are significantly more than the last USGS assessment of the Marcellus Shale in the Appalachian Basin in 2002, which estimated a mean of about 2 trillion cubic feet of gas (TCF) and 0.01 billion barrels of natural gas liquids. The increase in undiscovered, technically recoverable resource is due to new geologic information and engineering data, as technological developments in...

... means hundreds of new miles of pipeline as part of a larger, traditional cross-country network that already extends through Pennsylvania and its neighboring states, as well as dozens of new or upgraded compression stations to force more gas through the buried pipes. ... Combined, more than a dozen projects proposed or already under construction would have the capacity to move an additional 4 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day — one-third of what analysts for Colorado-based Bentek Energy say is the average daily demand in the northeastern United States. ... about 3 billion cubic feet (bcf) per...

Gov. Cuomo is hailing a new Pennsylvania study showing that the huge Marcellus Shale natural-gas field on the New York border could supply 25 percent of the nation's gas needs and create hundreds of thousands of jobs.  Cuomo -- who's weighing a late-June report by the state Department of Environmental Conservation concluding that controversial "hydrofracking" gas drilling could be done safely in most parts of the Southern Tier -- said the Pennsylvania report showed the enormous potential for job creation and economic development that the drilling offered New York. (Investment and production on Pennsylvania’s side of the Marcellus Shale natural-gas...

A Vienna, Va., company wants to build an $800 million power plant here and another in Bradford County to take advantage of the growing natural gas industry and to provide energy for up to 1.4 million people, including those in the local area. Aaron Samson, president of Moxie Energy, told the Sun-Gazette about plans to build the Moxie Patriot Generation Plant in Clinton Township and Moxie Liberty Generation Plant in Asylum Township, Bradford County. Construction would begin next year. "We're trying to put these projects close to the gas development," he said. The power plants will be fueled by natural...

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) -- Two unexpected gushers in northeastern Pennsylvania are helping to illustrate the enormous potential of the Marcellus Shale natural gas field. Each of the Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. wells in Susquehanna County is capable of producing 30 million cubic feet per day -- believed to be a record for the Marcellus and enough gas to supply nearly 1,000 homes for a year. The landowners attached to the wells, who leased the well access, numbering fewer than 25, are splitting hundreds of thousands of dollars in monthly royalties. "There was definitely excitement among the team that planned...

The U.S. is in the midst of an energy revolution, and we don't mean solar panels or wind turbines. A new gusher of natural gas from shale has the potential to transform U.S. energy production—that is, unless politicians, greens and the industry mess it up. Only a decade ago Texas oil engineers hit upon the idea of combining two established technologies to release natural gas trapped in shale formations. Horizontal drilling—in which wells turn sideways after a certain depth—opens up big new production areas. Producers then use a 60-year-old technique called hydraulic fracturing—in which water, sand and chemicals are injected...

Natural gas drilling through a method called high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," has become a major cause for concern and citizen uproar in Pennsylvania, where energy companies have tapped into major deposits. But this past week, environmental regulators in Pennsylvania announced that the state would be requesting further testing on water that is treated in both wastewater treatment plants and drinking water treatment plants to see if fracking water is contaminating drinking water supplies. > After the water is used in the fracking process, it's highly toxic and contains everything from carcinogens to radioactive materials to highly corrosive salts....

Imagine a place with more jobs than local people can fill. Imagine a place where small businesses are thriving. Imagine a place investing millions of dollars in infrastructure improvements. Imagine a place pumping billions of dollars directly to residents. Imagine a place where, since 2007, through the depths of the Great Recession, taxable income is up by over 5 percent and sales tax revenue is up by over 10 percent. Hard to imagine? Now imagine a nation with clean abundant energy. A nation where people can efficiently and comfortably run their homes, schools and hospitals for generations to come. A...

Philadelphia City Council is scheduled to vote Thursday on a resolution opposing Marcellus Shale natural-gas development until further environmental studies can be conducted. The resolution, which is expected to be approved, is the city's first formal declaration of opposition to natural-gas development in Pennsylvania. It was sponsored by Councilman Curtis Jones Jr., who chaired hearings in September on Marcellus drilling. Though anti-drilling activists are hailing the measure as "bold," its effects are largely symbolic because the city has limited legal means to influence drilling activity outside its jurisdiction. The nearest drilling is taking place more than 100 miles from the...

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Environmental groups and energy companies both claimed victory after Gov. David Paterson ordered a seven-month moratorium on some natural gas drilling in the state, although environmentalists would have preferred the broader ban that the Legislature had approved. The outgoing Democratic governor vetoed a bill on Saturday that would have suspended all new natural-gas drilling permits until May 15. Instead, he issued an executive order prohibiting high-volume hydraulic fracturing of horizontally drilled wells, such as those in the Marcellus Shale region of southern New York. The order stands until July 1...

According to recently leaked documents, the Pennsylvania Office of Homeland Security has been tracking anti-gas drilling groups and their meetings — including a public screening of the film “Gasland,” a documentary about the environmental hazards of natural gas drilling. The office has included the information in its weekly intelligence bulletins sent to law enforcement agencies. The bulletins are also sent to gas companies drilling in the Marcellus Shale. Activists and environmental groups have responded with outrage and some alarm. “There’s something dead-fishy here. ... Something is rotten,” activist Gene Stilp said. He has called for a formal House and Senate...

PITTSBURGH -- An intelligence bulletin from the Pennsylvania Office of Homeland Security is circulating on the Internet, and it quotes the FBI as saying that "environmental extremists" are likely to become an increasing threat to energy companies. Gov. Ed Rendell's press secretary, Gary Tuma, confirmed to Channel 4 Action News on Thursday that the document is real. "Five acts of vandalism over the last two weeks," Tuma said. "Two of those involved firearms -- firing of shotguns that put holes in equipment at Marcellus Shale drilling sites." He cited incidents of trespassing, theft and vandalism, including shots fired at Marcellus...

It may be hard to believe, but New York’s dysfunctional state government has done one big thing right over the past three years. While neighboring Pennsylvania and other states have rushed pell-mell into the Northeast’s version of an energy boom — making some people richer and some environments poorer — and while concern has steadily risen about the evolving industrial practices used to extract gas from shale, New York and Gov. David A. Paterson have held back. Instead of jumping in, the state has written fairly tough regulations that are still being tweaked and has added extra protections for the...

Energy Policy: To save the environment, a senator from Pennsylvania wants to shut off a major source of natural gas. Weren't the roads to the Exxon Valdez and Deepwater Horizon disasters paved with equally good intentions? Environmentalism did not cause the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, but it did help make it possible, just as 1989's Exxon Valdez disaster, which the Gulf Oil spill has now eclipsed, was also ironically made possible by a desire to protect the environment. The original plan when oil was discovered at Prudhoe Bay on Alaska's North Slope was to build a pipeline directly to the...

U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski held a news conference recently to talk about a federal money for water system improvements at local industrial parks but also touted another resource that he believes should be developed. "We have to have protection and clarity of our water and we have to have the value of the resource of natural gas. Together those two resources can be most prosperous for Northeastern Pennsylvania," Kanjorski, D-11, said. The congressman offered some unsolicited advice to property owners in the Hazleton area: Don't sell property without reserving gas and oil rights. "You'll be very, very sorry if you...

Sen. Bob Casey, D-PA, is campaigning against hydraulic fracturing in natural gas drilling by introducing a bill to remove the long-standing exemption in the Safe Drinking Water Act that allows energy companies to use the process.Hydraulic fracturing - or "fracking,' as it is more commonly known in the industry - involves injecting liquids, 95 percent of which are water, into rock formations far below the land surface in order to create access to vast quantities of natural gas. Casey's home state of Pennsylvania has a major portion of one of the country's largest undeveloped natural gas resources, the Marcellus Shale...

The Marcellus Shale natural gas play hold potential to produce 212,000 jobs during the next 10 years and generate $1.8 billion in tax revenues by 2012.

* Farmers in New York state fear invasion of drilling rigs * State considers whether to allow shale gas drilling HANCOCK, New York, Feb 18 (Reuters) - The race to exploit America's promising reserves of shale gas has triggered a clash between landowners in New York state, pitting those eager to earn royalties from drilling against farmers who fear gas companies will be able to drill without their consent. "There are people that say: my land, my gas," said Marc Dunau, an organic farmer in Hancock, located 150 miles (240 km) northwest of New York City, who refused to sign...

Energy: A new study shows that our reluctance to develop domestic energy will cost the beleaguered U.S. economy trillions in opportunity costs, reduce our gross domestic product and increase our trade deficit. From trying to stimulate jobs in nonexistent ZIP codes at great expense to worshiping the false gods of climate change, our biggest deficit these days may be in the area of common sense. A new study shows that many of our wounds are self-inflicted as we forgo the wealth and jobs to be found in our waters and under our feet. The study by Science Applications International Corp....

Energy: An oil company wants to invest its profits in clean-burning American natural gas. A Hungarian billionaire and a "green" politician want to stop it. This is the real Climate-gate scandal. While the greenies of the world united in Copenhagen to talk about the weather, emitting a Third World-country-size chunk of greenhouse gases to gather there, the world's largest oil company, Exxon Mobil, was doing something about it. On Dec. 14, Exxon agreed to buy XTO Energy, a natural gas firm, in a deal valued at $41 billion. XTO is one of the leaders in something called "fracking" technology, in...