NORWICH – If the geologists are correct about what’s in the ground here, it’s time to start keeping up with the Joneses - or at least talking to them.
That’s the message from the Chenango County Farm Bureau and many landowners. And after a decade of educating and lobbying government regulators on the subject of mineral rights, Farm Bureau President Bradd Vickers said, “It looks like people are finally getting it.”
People are finally paying attention to the rich source of natural gas found in the Marcellus Shale strata that stretches from West Virginia, through Ohio and Pennsylvania and ends in central New York. Estimates vary as to how much gas this field holds, but one estimate from Fredonia State College put the number at 500 trillion cubic feet - more than twice the country's current proven reserves. Actual production will be far more modest, but nonetheless significant.
Experts have known about natural gas in the region for years, and wells have been drilled in any number of shale beds here in Chenango County. But, it’s only been a few years since new horizontal drilling technology has made extracting what’s being called the “super-giant” Marcellus gas field possible and cost effective.
Horizontal drilling technology was first used by natural gas exploration companies in 2001 in order to reach what was considered the rich Barnett Shale strata in Texas. About 3 million cubic feet of the energy source was found. That can be compared to the 7 million cubic feet discovered in the Marcellus bed in Western Pennsylvania more recently.
If the experts are correct, just tapping into 10 percent of what’s in the Marcellus Shale would be enough to power the entire country for about three years. And if the geological mapping and research available online are accurate, the Marcellus in eastern Chenango County has a huge store of some of the Appalachian regions’ cleanest, richest and purest natural gas.
“We are standing at the door of an economic boom. It will mean economic development for Chenango County like you’ve never seen before,” said Richard Jorgensen, a Town of Norwich landowner. “It will make what Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals brought to the area pale in comparison.”
National economists say the Barnett Shale production in Texas resulted in 83,000 new jobs near the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.
Like a handful of other landowners, Jorgensen has been talking to his neighbors. They are actively seeking others to join together to create a unit of land that would be more attractive to larger natural gas companies. The group has about 800 acres already, but Jorgensen said they would talk to anyone, anywhere, with any amount of land.
“We would like property owners to cease and desist leasing their land,” the local dentist said. “If we step forward with a block of land, there is greater appeal to them to give us the best price.”
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