Marcellus Shale Pennsylvania

The Marcellus Shale covers approximately 65 million acres or 2/3 of Pennsylvania and is located near the high demand marketplace of the Northeast. Pennsylvania has a long history of energy production. The first well within the U.S. was drilled in Pennsylvania in 1859 near Titusville. With the advent of horizontal drilling technology combined with modern hydraulic fracturing techniques, the Marcellus is now economically viable prompting recovery and marketing of its substantial resource of natural gas. Pennsylvania is no doubt being significantly affected by this development.

Marcellus Shale Companies

Significant producers within the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale are:

• Anadarko Petroleum
• Atlas Energy Resources
• Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation
• Carrizo Oil & Gas Corp.
• Chesapeake Energy
• Chief Oil & Gas
• East Resources
• Energy Corporation of America
• EOG Resources
• EQT Corp
• EXCO Resources
• Fortuna Energy
• Nomac Drilling
• North Coast Energy
• Range Resources
• Rex Energy Corp.
• Southwestern Energy Production Company
• StatoilHydro
• Stone Energy Company
• Ultra Petroleum Corp.

Marcellus Shale Geology

The Marcellus shale of the Appalachian Basin is from the Middle Devonian age and is located between 5,000 and 8,000 feet below the surface. It's thickness ranges anywhere from about 50 feet to 900 feet.

It takes it's name from the location of it's outcrop near Marcellus New York, and extends throughout much of the Appalachian Basin.

It is a black carbonaceous (organic rich), low density shale that occurs within Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Marcellus Shale Location

The Marcellus Shale is located in the following counties of Pennsylvania:

• Allegheny County PA
• Armstrong County PA
• Beaver County PA
• Bedford County PA
• Blair County PA
• Bradford County PA
• Butler County PA
• Cambria County PA
• Cameron County PA
• Carbon County PA
• Centre County PA
• Clearfield County PA
• Clinton County PA
• Crawford County PA
• Elk County PA
• Fayette County PA
• Forest County PA
• Greene County PA
• Indiana County PA
• Jefferson County PA
• Lawrence County PA
• Luzerne County PA
• McKean County PA
• Mercer County PA
• Pike County PA
• Potter County PA
• Somerset County PA
• Susquehanna County PA
• Tioga County PA
• Venango County PA
• Warren County PA
• Washington County PA
• Wayne County PA
• Westmoreland County PA

Additional Reading

• Oil & Gas 101 – General information for mineral and royalty owners.
• Marcellus Shale Maryland - Short article describing geology, location & counties within the Marcellus Shale of Maryland. Written for oil and natural gas mineral rights and royalty owners in MD.
• Marcellus Shale New Jersey - Short article describing geology, location & counties within the Marcellus Shale of New Jersey. Written for mineral rights and royalty owners in NJ.
• Marcellus Shale New York - Short article describing geology, location & counties within the Marcellus Shale of New York. Written for mineral rights and royalty owners in NY.
• Marcellus Shale Ohio - Short article describing geology, location & counties within the Marcellus Shale of Ohio. Written for mineral rights and royalty owners in OH.
• Marcellus Shale West Virginia - Short article describing geology, location & counties within the Marcellus Shale of West Virginia. Written for mineral rights and royalty owners in WV.