Rep. Causer Says State Should Pursue Marcellus Shale

Two geoscience professors stirred the industry when they estimated the Marcellus Shale rock formation contains 168 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and could contain as much as 516 trillion cubic feet. By comparison, the United States produces 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas year. Recent technology has made it possible to cheaply extract that gas, and State Representative Marty Causer says a large portion of the Marcellus Shale formation is in this region. "It's something that really could cause a boost to our economy and it's something, I think, we as a state have to pursue," Causer says. The Marcellus Shale formation is about 600 miles long and covers 54,000 square miles, stretching from southern West Virginia into western Virginia, through eastern Ohio and most of Pennsylvania into New York, stopping about 90 miles from New York City.