CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

The high cost of energy has fueled claims of economic growth stemming from the recoverable gas trapped in the Marcellus Shale formation, and one of the leaders in the field, Terry Engelder, formerly of Wellsville, will discuss the potential for that growth in Wellsville next week.

Engelder will be in Wellsville 7 p.m. Monday at the David A. Howe library to give a public presentation on the possibility of economic growth based on the development of the area’s natural gas reserves courtesy of the Wellsville Citizens for Responsible Development. There will also be a discussion of an approach which could make Allegany County more appealing to the energy companies and could result in increased tax revenues, employment and cheap fuel to the area, according to the WC-RD.

“Marcellus Shale has always been known to have obtainable natural gas,” according to local geologist Art VanTyne, who said as recently as last month that the old oil and gas producers retrieved only a small fraction of the oil and gas from this area, but, that high oil prices and newer drilling technology have made retrieving it more feasible and affordable. “There’s a lot of difference between drilling when a barrel of oil costs only $35 than when it costs $140.”

From Texas to New York, Engelder and Lash have gone on record stating the Marcellus shale conservatively contains 168 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in place, but that the figure might be as high as 516 trillion cubic feet. Statistically the United States, Canada, and Mexico combined currently produce roughly 30 trillion cubic feet of gas annually. Engelder has said the technology exists to recover 50 trillion cubic feet of gas just from the Marcellus, shale making it a super giant gas field.

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