Gas drilling activity in the Marcellus has emerged rapidly in our region due to three separate, coincident developments: rising natural gas prices and increased commercial demand, revised estimates of the amount of natural gas stored in the Marcellus Shale basin, and advances in drilling technology. Around 2000, natural gas prices began to rise dramatically,
and have remained relatively high to date. Considering that national predictions expect the demand for natural gas in the
U.S. to rise by 20% by 2035, finding an economical way to extract natural gas contained in unconventional resources
became more important to oil and gas companies