Marcellus Shale Becoming Nation’s Top Natural Gas Play

The Marcellus Shale, located beneath the states of New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio is proving to be one of the nation’s most productive natural gas plays if it hasn’t already. The black organic rich shale first began being drilled extensively just 5 years ago and is already being mentioned in the same category, as far as daily production goes, with the Haynesville shale in Louisiana and Texas.

The number of drilling permits in the Haynesville Shale has decreased substantially over the past year due to the recent low gas prices. This is not to say that the low gas prices hasn’t affected Marcellus drilling as the number of permits are down from a year ago but it is not down by much. The Marcellus Shale is one of the most economic shale plays to drill for due to its close proximity to a very large market in the Northeast as well as it having oil present in a small portion of the shale located in Southwest Pennsylvania. All these factors have played a role in the success the Marcellus Shale is having and it growing into the top producing natural gas field in the country.

Today we are seeing daily production of natural gas from Marcellus wells being roughly 7.4 billion cubic feet of gas per day. That number now accounts for more than 25% of shale gas production in the U.S. The potential for this number to increase is very likely as new pipelines are making drilling more economic and drilling activity doesn’t seem to show any signs of slowing down.

The Marcellus Shale has brought in tons of jobs and money to the Northeast region and many mineral rights and royalty owners have been looking to cash in on their investments. The minerals that lay beneath the surface in Pennsylvania and West Virginia have become very valuable which is why many companies are now willing to buy those rights to those

minerals from land owners. If you are someone who owns mineral rights or is receiving royalty checks you can get a quote for free by filling out a property submission to see what your minerals might be worth.

This is a very exciting time for everyone that is located within the region of the Marcellus Shale as it is on the brink of being recognized as the leading natural gas play in the country. With natural gas prices only expected to raise over the course of the next few years this play still has a lot of room for growth and is expected to play a huge role in our energy needs for many years to come.