The December edition of Focus on Pennsylvania follows Sen. Mary Jo White (R-Venango) and Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming) as they tour a Chief Oil & Gas Marcellus Shale natural gas operations in Lycoming County.

The program covers topics such as the economic benefits and job creation from Marcellus Shale development as well as the environmental precautions and safety measures taken by the industry.

Sen. White, Chair of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, commented, "It's a tremendous economic and energy security opportunity for Pennsylvania. But it is equally critical that citizens have confidence in the drilling and production process. Visiting Chief's drilling site provided a first-hand look at how this abundant resource is developed, and I encourage all who are interested to take some time to watch this educational video."

Chief Oil & Gas entered the Marcellus Shale field in early 2007, drilling its first well in Lycoming County. Kristi Gittins, Vice President, Public Affairs, summarized Chief's commitment to education and community involvement with this statement, "We realized early how important education and outreach would be to develop the Marcellus Shale. Chief held a town hall meeting and field tour in 2007 when we drilled our first well using a community outreach program that we developed working in the Barnett. Those that attended had many questions and we knew we needed to be open and answer their questions so the community would be comfortable with who we are and how we do business.

"Since that first meeting and field tour, Chief has hosted, sponsored and made presentations at numerous meetings and events throughout Pennsylvania and taken several thousand landowners, environmental groups, community leaders and legislative, regulatory and municipal officials on field tours of our sites.

"We were very pleased to work with Focus on Pennsylvania to develop this educational video and hope that it furthers the awareness of how the Marcellus will be developed and increases the comfort level of Pennsylvanians that we can develop this field responsibly."

Watch the video online.