PA’s Leading Marcellus Expert Makes Prediction on Where Drilling Will Start in NY

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Professor Terry Engelder, a Ph.D. geologist and professor of geosciences at Penn State University, was an early and strong proponent for shale gas drilling in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale. He is without a doubt PA’s leading expert on the subject. So when Dr. Engelder makes predictions, people listen, because he’s usually right. He recently made a prediction about where drilling in New York State will likely occur once New York finally begins to drill for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale.

Engelder guessed that the first tests in New York will be close to the Millennium Pipeline Co. LLC system.

"When the permits are issued and the operators arrive in New York State, I anticipate that there will be a corridor along I-86 that goes from Binghamton, which is Broome County, through Tioga County and on over into Chemung County as probably the most intense area, for at least initial testing," he said. "There will be some really neat wells in counties such as Tioga County. But moving northward from there, I think the economics will probably work against drillers moving at a very rapid pace."*

*SNL Financial (Jul 6, 2011) – Expert: Southern Tier may hold the best Marcellus wells in New York