ABOUT   |   NEWS   |   CONTACT

Home  |  Operations  |  Marcellus Shale

MARCELLUS SHALE.

~Marcellus facts courtesy of PAMarcellus.Com

Marcellus Shale is a deep geologic formation stretching more than 95,000 square miles through parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York. Formed about 380 million years ago, the Marcellus Shale is rich in organic material from plants and animals. As these organics were compressed through time and geologic pressures, natural gas was trapped in the shale's natural fractures.

The Marcellus Shale formation is found 4,000 - 8,500 feet below ground surface and is between 50 and 200 feet thick. The high-volume reservoir of natural gas in the Marcellus Shale formation is estimated to hold more than 500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Even if only 10 percent of the gas is recovered, it is enough to fuel the United States for two years and would be worth more than one trillion dollars.

A combination of factors is driving the interest in developing natural gas from the Marcellus Shale. Primarily, the techniques - like three-dimensional imaging and horizontal drilling - enhanced to produce natural gas economically from other shale formations in the United States, are being used to access gas in the Marcellus Shale formation. Because of past and current drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation, much is known about its characteristics. In addition, the economics between natural gas prices and close proximity to gas-hungry Northeast markets have made the Marcellus Shale an excellent exploration opportunity.

For more on Marcellus Shale, visit PAMarcellus.Com. Their helpful PDF Fact sheet can be downloaded by Clicking Here.

To see Chesapeake Energy's involvement with Marcellus Shale, along with statistics on Chesapeake in the within the Marcellus formation, visit their Web site by Clicking Here.