Marcellus Shale and You?

          Marcellus Shale is having a large financial affect on many people and their lives in Pennsylvania.  The natural gas extracted from the shale is mostly affecting people in northern parts of Pennsylvania and southern parts of New York.

          It is affecting me in an indirect way.  For me it has to do with a family owned cabin in Wayne county.  Recently, we were notified that gas drilling companies would be using our land in return for royalties to drill for natural gas.
          Marcellus shale is a black carbonaceous (organic rich), low density shale that can be found throughout much of the Appalachian Basin.  The shale was named after an outcropping in Marcellus New York.  I find it interesting that the outcrop is nowhere near current production areas.

 

 

          The formation can be found beneath about 60 percent of Pennsylvania’s total land mass (as the map above depicts) and the depth ranges between 5,000 and 8,000 feet.  Currently the production is occurring in areas where it can be most easily extracted.  Horizontal drilling is the most common drilling practice used in extraction.  I found a video here that demonstrates the current drilling and extracting process if your interested.