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Marcellus Shale Region
Included below are maps of the region which we represent. If you own the oil and gas rights to your land or want to find out, please contact us and see if we have land pools forming in your area. The first map below shows where the Marcellus Shale is located primarily throughout NY, PA, OH and WV.
The Marcellus Shale is gas rich shale that is approximately a mile below the surface. Drilling down to such depths is expensive and the reason why horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracking have proven useful. Once they near the shale, they adjust the drill to travel horizontal through the shale for a larger area to extract the gas and oil.
The Utica Shale is gas and liquid rich shale that is typically a few thousand feet below the Marcellus Shale and covers a much greater area than the Marcellus Shale. The Utica Shale has been referred to as the largest gas field currently known. The depth of the Utica shale varies and in parts of Pennsylvania it stretches down more then 2 miles below sea level. However, the more westward in to Ohio it goes, the closer to the surface it has formed, to less than 2,000 feet below sea level.
Hydraulic Fracturing or ‘fracking’ is the method used to increase the output of a natural gas well. After a well has been drilled, charges are placed deep in the well to fracture the shale at naturally occurring joints. After the joints have been opened up, a high pressure liquid with sand and other ingredients is pumped in to keep the fracture open longer, increasing flow rates. Being able to collect larger amounts of natural gas allows this more expensive horizontal drilling method to be a viable option. Otherwise, natural gas wells in shale regions would have difficulties producing enough gas from a traditional well to sustain their expenses.
Maps & Diagrams
Click on the images below to get a better idea of where the Marcellus and Utica shale is located. Please note, while these map were created using a lot of information, there is a lot of information that was not included and may overstate or understate some specifics.
