Natural Gas Summit -- Marcellus Shale Find May Be Larger Than Earlier Estimate

Terry Engelder, professor of geosciences in Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, who recently announced that the Marcellus natural gas find is potentially larger than his earlier estimates, will be a keynote speaker at the upcoming Pennsylvania Natural Gas Summit, an outreach program of Penn State.

 

The summit will be held at the Ramada Conference Center in State College on December 10 and 11 and will explore the far-reaching challenges and opportunities of the Marcellus Shale find.

Engelder now believes that the Marcellus shale region may be seven times larger than earlier estimates and contain 363 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

 

Mike McDavid, northeast regional director of Penn State Extension, said this new information underscores the importance of the summit.

 

"This is meant to be a forum to discuss the challenges and opportunities of increased revenue, labor migration, transportation, retail pressures, employment and income impacts of Marcellus shale exploration in our communities," said McDavid. "We hope these discussions will help communities improve local decision making, empower communities to guide their own decisions and improve the social and economic well being of our communities and citizens."

 

Other keynote speakers include John Pinkerton, CEO of Range Resources and John Matthews, county commissioner of Johnson County, Texas.

 

Legislators, legal authorities, county and municipal elected officials, county or community task forces, chambers of commerce, and planning officials and community groups are expected to attend. During this two day summit, participants will have the opportunity to discuss and identify all natural gas exploration issues and impacts in their respective communities and region.

 

For more information, visit the PA Natural Gas Summit website or call 814-863-5000 for more information.