1. Natural Gas in Pennsylvania

2. How Does Natural Gas Form?
Natural gas forms over millions of years from the decomposition, deep burial, intense pressure, and heat of organic (plant and animal) matter. It is contained in rock formations such as shale. Shale is plentiful in Pennsylvania.

3. Why Use Natural Gas?
Natural gas is used as a fuel for heating, cooking, electricity generation, industry and in the production of synthetic materials such as paint, fertilizer, plastic, antifreeze, and more. Although the burning of natural gas produces carbon dioxide, it is considered a much cleaner fossil fuel than coal or petroleum. Slightly more than half of the homes in the United States use natural gas as their main heating fuel.

4. What is Shale?
Shale is a sedimentary rock. It forms in thick slab layers from accumulated deposits of sand, clay, shells and often organic matter in bodies of water. Shale is finely grained and can act as a barrier for trapping petroleum and natural gas reservoirs. In addition, the shale rock itself can contain natural gas in rock fractures and pore spaces

5. Where Can We Find Shale in PA?
A large deposit of shale covers 2/3 of the state of Pennsylvania, as well as parts of New York, Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland. This shale formation, known as Marcellus Shale, was deposited over 350 million years ago in a shallow inland sea located in the eastern United States where the present-day Appalachian Mountains now stand. Shale is an exceptional energy resource for natural gas because it is rich in organic content.

6. The shale covers more than two-thirds of Pennsylvania
The shale covers more than two-thirds of Pennsylvania. Look at the next slide to help you decide what region of the state has the most natural gas? How many regions of PA contain natural gas?

7. Regions of Pennsylvania

8. The shale has a depth from surface level to more than a mile below ground.

9. A Cross-Section of the Earth in Pennsylvania
This cross-section of the Earth in PA shows more than just the soil profile.
Continue past the topsoil, subsoil and weathered rock, and through the aquifer (water table) and you reach various deposits of solid rock. Travel another 2,000 – 3,000 feet down and you will finally reach the shale that contains deposits of natural gas.

10. How Is Natural Gas Extracted?
Hydraulic fracturing is used to extract gas. This process forces the gas into the well (pipe) and up to the surface where it is stored.

11. Shale Locations in PA Shale is located in the following counties of Pennsylvania:
Allegheny County PA
Armstrong County PA
Beaver County PA
Bedford County PA
Blair County PA
Bradford County PA
Butler County PA
Cambria County PA
Cameron County PA
Somerset County PA
Susquehanna County PA
Tioga County PA
Venango County PA
Warren County PA
Washington County PA
Wayne County PA
Westmoreland County PA
Jefferson County PA
Lawrence County PA
Luzerne County PA
McKean County PA
Mercer County PA
Pike County PA
Potter County PA
Carbon County PA
Centre County PA
Clearfield County PA
Clinton County PA
Crawford County PA
Elk County PA
Fayette County PA
Forest County PA
Greene County PA
Indiana County PA

12. A natural gas drilling tower, seen from Pennsylvania Route 118 in eastern Moreland Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania.