The search for natural gas

The search for natural gas
Western Sullivan County might contain vast reserves
By Victor Whitman
Times Herald-Record
March 08, 2008 6:00 AM

LONG EDDY — Is Sullivan County sitting on a pot of gold?

Gas companies think so. Competing energy companies are exploring the possibility of drilling into long-suspected natural gas reserves in western Sullivan.

Several river towns, including Fremont, Delaware and Cochecton, are on the eastern edge of the Marcellus Shale, where a "supergiant" field of natural gas is believed to be locked in the rock nearly 8,000 feet below, but has been out of reach of technology.

With new drilling methods, companies have been tapping huge, and previously inaccessible, reserves in the Barnett Shale in Texas. And with the price of natural gas at a 10-year high, the Marcellus Shale is considered the next great opportunity.

Chesapeake Energy and Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., among other companies, have signed up homeowners in Wayne, Pa., and recently pushed into western Sullivan and southern Delaware counties.

Companies have drilled a few wells in Susquehanna, Pa., and also are interested in Lycoming, Pa., and Broome and Chenango in the Southern Tier.

"It is exploratory now, but I believe it is inevitable that they will get what they can," said Gary Lash, a professor of geoscience at SUNY Fredonia, who has studied the Marcellus Shale for two decades. "There's a lot of gas right there. I think it will end up being well worth the effort."

That could become controversial in Sullivan, where some drilling might take place near the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway, where eagles soar and pristine forests border the Delaware River in one of the most beautiful areas of the state.

While the landsmen — the agents of about six competing energy companies interested in the Marcellus Shale — have been quietly knocking on doors to sign leases for drilling rights, environmentalists have been watching them.

"We are trying to get to the bottom of it, literally," said Ramsay Adams, executive director of the Catskill Mountainkeeper, a watchdog group based in Youngsville.

"From our perspective, we are not against natural gas, which is cleaner than coal. What we are concerned about is the environmental health — the roads to be developed, clear-cutting and the effects on ground water," Adams said.

"If it is environmentally sound, we would potentially support it. The key is, there are so many unanswered questions, but there is a real push by the energy companies to sign leases, especially in Sullivan and Delaware counties. To sum it up, one needs to be concerned."

Dozens of Sullivan landowners already have visions of striking it rich, with companies now offering leases at about $750 an acre and a royalty.

"The smart money is not signing," said Noel van Swol, whose family owns land around Long Eddy and is organizing property owners to negotiate directly with the energy companies.

"What they haven't been telling people is that they (the landowners) are sitting on the greatest unconventional gas reserves in the history of the United States."

vwhitman@th-record.com

Unconventional natural gas

The Marcellus Shale is thought to contain at least 168 trillion cubic feet, and up to 516 trillion cubic feet, of natural gas. A supergiant field contains 30 or more trillion cubic feet. The Marcellus Shale extends all the way to the eastern half of Ohio and through West Virginia, but exploration efforts have been focused in Pennsylvania and New York.

Sources: Gary Lash, SUNY Fredonia; Terry Engelder, Penn State University.
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