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There’s Gas in Those Hills
NY Times ^ | April 8, 2008 | CLIFFORD KRAUSS

Posted on 04/08/2008 7:41:12 PM PDT by neverdem


Marcellus Shale Distribution
The New York Times

HUGHESVILLE, Pa. — At first, Raymond Gregoire did not want to listen to the raspy voice on his answering machine offering him money for rights to drill on his land. They want to ruin my land, he thought. But he called back anyway a week later to hear more.

By the end of February, he had a contract in hand for $62,000, and he pulled together a group of 75 neighbors who signed $3 million in deals.

“It’s a modern-day gold rush in our own backyard,” Mr. Gregoire said.

Not just his backyard either — a frenzy unlike any seen in decades is unfolding here in rural Pennsylvania, and it eventually could encompass a huge chunk of the East, stretching from upstate New York to eastern Ohio and as far south as West Virginia. Companies are risking big money on a bet that this area could produce billions of dollars worth of natural gas.

A layer of rock here called the Marcellus Shale has been known for more than a century to contain gas, but it was generally not seen as economical to extract. Now, improved recovery technology, sharply higher natural gas prices and strong drilling results in a similar shale formation in north Texas are changing the calculus. A result is that a part of the country where energy supplies were long thought to be largely tapped out is suddenly ripe for gas prospecting.

Pennsylvania, where the Marcellus Shale appears to be thickest, is the heart of the action so far. Leasing agents from Texas and Oklahoma are knocking on doors, leaving voice mail messages and playing host at catered buffets to woo dairy farmers and retirees. They are rifling through stacks of dusty deeds in courthouse basements...

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Front Page News; US: New York; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: energy; fracturedrilling; hughesville; marcellusshale; naturalgas
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Jeff Swensen for The New York Times
Fracture drilling workers run machinery on a farm outside of Pittsburgh. Companies are risking big money on rural Pennsylvania, producing billions of dollars' worth of natural gas.

Kalim A. Bhatti for The New York Times
Raymond Gregoire and his family outside their home near Williamsport, Pa. He recently signed a leasing contract.

Jeff Swenson for The New York Times
A natural gas drilling site on a farm in Hickory, outside Pittsburgh, that seeks to extract gas from 600 feet below the surface.
1 posted on 04/08/2008 7:41:12 PM PDT by neverdem
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To: neverdem
Oil, gas in Pennsylvania, who would have guessed?


2 posted on 04/08/2008 7:45:21 PM PDT by Michael.SF. ("democrat" -- 'one who panders to the crude and mindless whims of the masses " - Joseph J. Ellis)
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To: Born Conservative; airborne; smoothsailing; Dr. Scarpetta; martin_fierro; Coop; Tribune7; ...

Marcellus Shale ping


3 posted on 04/08/2008 7:48:53 PM PDT by neverdem (I'm praying for a Divine Intervention.)
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To: neverdem
APL

ECA

KMP

WMZ

yitbos

4 posted on 04/08/2008 7:55:13 PM PDT by bruinbirdman ("Those who control language control minds." - Ayn Rand)
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To: Michael.SF.

5 posted on 04/08/2008 7:55:17 PM PDT by Cobra64 (www.BulletBras.net)
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To: neverdem

Democrats will put a stop to this ASAP.

Their Saudi and Venezuelan puppet masters told them to.


6 posted on 04/08/2008 7:56:32 PM PDT by Ron in Acreage (Jorge Bush has a 90% approval rating--In Mexico. McCain too.)
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To: neverdem

I thought all the gas in western PA was emitted by John Murtha, but it seems that there is plenty more!


7 posted on 04/08/2008 7:57:08 PM PDT by Enchante (Hillary: I brought peace to Northern Ireland, I dodged sniper bullets in Bosnia....... HUH???)
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To: neverdem

Isn’t it a fact that the first oil wells in PA are still pumping oil?


8 posted on 04/08/2008 8:00:47 PM PDT by Bringbackthedraft ( Clinton/Obama .. Obama/ Clinton ... Mc Cain/Obama .. Mc Cain/Clinton ... What a Choice!? Puleeeze!)
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To: neverdem
I hope these individuals enjoy the boom while they can because soon the enviro wackos will discover all sorts of rare mammals, reptiles and amphibians that have never before been discovered. This is not to mention the increased ozone and smog generated that is harming human health. That's what is going on here in Wyoming. Every week it is something new in an effort shut down the natural gas fields that are currently making our state thrive.
9 posted on 04/08/2008 8:05:30 PM PDT by rwh
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To: neverdem

With the Bakken report due out Thursday, this could be a “perfect storm” in the energy markets.


10 posted on 04/08/2008 8:06:18 PM PDT by Uriah_lost (This space reserved for a decent candidate,,,lemme know when we get one.)
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To: neverdem

Awww...who's thinking about all the widdle bunny wabbits, cute little Bambi deer and adorable raccoons being discomfited by all this nasty, smelly machinery and noise? This must stop immediately!

11 posted on 04/08/2008 8:06:42 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: neverdem

Anyone ever been to these areas? Potter County in NW PA or Allegheny County in Western NY? We are talking real Appalachia-style rural poverty. Am sure the NY legislature in Albany will think of ways to take all their new-found wealth to leave them as poor as before.


12 posted on 04/08/2008 8:11:07 PM PDT by PGR88
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To: Uriah_lost

Yeah a perfect storm if production were ever allowed to take place, until then enjoy $4 a gallon gasoline.


13 posted on 04/08/2008 8:14:19 PM PDT by rwh
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To: Bringbackthedraft
Oil is still produced near Titusville, but not much. Pennsylvania oil production is summarized at "Hubbert Peak"...

Prior to the invention of the automobile, most oil was burned in kerosene lamps. For the first 25 years of the Oil Age era, Pennsylvania was the world’s leading producer. (John D. Rockefeller coined America’s largest fortune by cornering the Pennsylvania market.) In 1891 the Quaker State produced enough oil to light the U.S. for 7 months. In 1937, when its production reached a second lower peak, Pennsylvania supplied enough to run the now motorized country for 7 days. Today the state’s oil could power the U.S. for only 3 hours. Although there are still 19,000 wells in Pennsylvania, collectively they produce a puny 6,900 barrels each day. In contrast, Saudi Arabia produces 8 million barrels—1,100 times as much—from just 1,400 wells.

14 posted on 04/08/2008 8:15:31 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: rwh

Change your name to Eyore. Jeeze.


15 posted on 04/08/2008 8:17:44 PM PDT by Uriah_lost (This space reserved for a decent candidate,,,lemme know when we get one.)
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To: Michael.SF.

One thing for certain - the liberal wackos will find some reason to oppose it.


16 posted on 04/08/2008 8:26:08 PM PDT by Gumdrop
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To: Uriah_lost

Eeyore? Hardly. What do you see in Americas energy policy that will allow domestic production to take place in such a way that oil and gas prices decrease? Sorry, I work in the field and i consistently see that government regulations are set up in a way that do not allow the markets to work. Most in this country believe that oil and gas companies have enough pull to get their way and produce oil and gas wherever they see fit. In REALITY the few environmental whackos in this country have far more influence on regulations than oil companies will ever dream of having. if you have ever wondered why gasoline prices are so high there is a reason, and it isn’t the lack of oil in the ground.


17 posted on 04/08/2008 8:27:50 PM PDT by rwh
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To: 3catsanadog; agrace; airborne; Ayn Rand wannabe; Benrand; bloodmeridian; buzzyboop; ...
It's a 'Burgh


Thing.™

Click for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Forecast
Send FReepmail if yunz want on/off BPT list, 'n'at
Learn Pittsburghese!
Free Streaming 'Burgh Radio
The List of Ping Lists

18 posted on 04/08/2008 8:28:50 PM PDT by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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Report on Bakken oil potential expected
Business Week | 4/8/08 | JAMES MacPHERSON
Posted on Tuesday, April 08, 2008 10:02:14 PM by tatown
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1998772/posts


19 posted on 04/08/2008 8:34:50 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_____________________Profile updated Saturday, March 29, 2008)
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To: neverdem
that seeks to extract gas from 600 feet below the surface.

That's really shallow.

20 posted on 04/08/2008 8:45:42 PM PDT by PAR35
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