Kevin O’Neill on Marcellus Shale Volume 1 - Who Knew?http://www.kmo.name/newsletters/Marcellus_Shale_volI.pdf
Growing up in upstate New York – the notion of drilling and mines seemed somewhat of an absurdity – as it was never mentioned. However, I do recall one day seeing an advertisement on T.V. that an oil company was looking for shale – so a few friends and I spent the whole afternoon carting shale stone in our wagons from a neighboring lot where a house was being built to our yard with thoughts of striking it rich. When at day’s end – we told our parents to call the company to pick up the shale so we could cash in – we were devastated to learn from our parents that the company was looking for a lot of shale – like hundreds of acres worth so they could sap the oil out of the deposits.
So many years later as I find myself in Canonsburg, PA nestled on a home high up on a hill with my family that underneath it not only is a mine that was last utilized in 1961 but also has underneath it the crown jewel of shale - the Marcellus Shale bed. When we purchased the land and started building the house in 2000, we had no idea the Marcellus Shale bed was under our house. We first became aware of this when in 2009 we got a letter from a medium size drilling company that our house was in an area of interest to them for possibly placing a well. Interesting we thought, so I attended the information meeting and learned a fair amount about the process. Seems from what was stated typically a home owner owns the mineral rights under their homes. Thus, if I was willing to sign an agreement to have a well drilled – only at that point would the title of the house be run to see if I indeed owned the mineral rights on the land. If I did – then bingo – I could be paid after of course a hole was drilled on my property and a pipeline was run. Thus, it was stated that if someone owned less then an acre they would not become a millionaire from the royalties received from their pipeline – however several times during the night – the company stated, if someone owned more then 5 acres of land – they would want to speak to them right away.
Now in 2011 – many companies have sprung-up to tap into this vast shale bed which in Washington County where I live was formed in the Permian period which was the final period of the Paleozoic Era roughly 290 million years ago and lasted until 248 million years ago. Companies are building their regional headquarters in impressive style right down the street, our neighborhood and town is now experiencing a boom from many moving into the area for jobs related to this vast shale bed. All along looking back now 11 years – Who Knew?
Growing up in upstate New York – the notion of drilling and mines seemed somewhat of an absurdity – as it was never mentioned. However, I do recall one day seeing an advertisement on T.V. that an oil company was looking for shale – so a few friends and I spent the whole afternoon carting shale stone in our wagons from a neighboring lot where a house was being built to our yard with thoughts of striking it rich. When at day’s end – we told our parents to call the company to pick up the shale so we could cash in – we were devastated to learn from our parents that the company was looking for a lot of shale – like hundreds of acres worth so they could sap the oil out of the deposits.
So many years later as I find myself in Canonsburg, PA nestled on a home high up on a hill with my family that underneath it not only is a mine that was last utilized in 1961 but also has underneath it the crown jewel of shale - the Marcellus Shale bed. When we purchased the land and started building the house in 2000, we had no idea the Marcellus Shale bed was under our house. We first became aware of this when in 2009 we got a letter from a medium size drilling company that our house was in an area of interest to them for possibly placing a well. Interesting we thought, so I attended the information meeting and learned a fair amount about the process. Seems from what was stated typically a home owner owns the mineral rights under their homes. Thus, if I was willing to sign an agreement to have a well drilled – only at that point would the title of the house be run to see if I indeed owned the mineral rights on the land. If I did – then bingo – I could be paid after of course a hole was drilled on my property and a pipeline was run. Thus, it was stated that if someone owned less then an acre they would not become a millionaire from the royalties received from their pipeline – however several times during the night – the company stated, if someone owned more then 5 acres of land – they would want to speak to them right away.
Now in 2011 – many companies have sprung-up to tap into this vast shale bed which in Washington County where I live was formed in the Permian period which was the final period of the Paleozoic Era roughly 290 million years ago and lasted until 248 million years ago. Companies are building their regional headquarters in impressive style right down the street, our neighborhood and town is now experiencing a boom from many moving into the area for jobs related to this vast shale bed. All along looking back now 11 years – Who Knew?
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