Pennsylvania's Industry

Our industry has been providing energy, jobs and economic benefits to Pennsylvania for more than 150 years.

The world's first commercial oil well was drilled in 1859 in Titusville, Venango County. Natural gas production in Pennsylvania dates back to 1881.

Thanks to technological advances in finding and producing natural gas, Pennsylvania again is playing a key role in meeting the nation's energy needs. A rock formation approximately a mile below the surface known as the Marcellus Shale promises to become one of the world's largest natural gas fields, containing over 500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Much of Pennsylvania is underlain by the Marcellus Shale, and drilling activity targeting this formation is taking place in more than 25 counties. And a few thousand feet below the Marcellus is another formation called the Utica Shale that could ultimately become another huge natural gas resource for Pennsylvania.

Businesses ranging from small family operations up to huge multinational corporations drill for and produce crude oil and natural gas in about half of the state's 67 counties. Most of the crude oil comes from the counties of McKean, Warren, Forest and Venango in northwest Pennsylvania, with additional production in the counties between Butler and Greene in the southwest part of the state. Natural gas also is produced in a wide swath of Pennsylvania: Draw a diagonal line from the very northeast tip of the state down to Somerset County in the southwest, and nearly everything north of that line is a part of the Commonwealth's gas- producing region.

In 2010, operators drilled 2,682 oil and gas wells, almost evenly divided between Marcellus Shale natural gas wells and wells targeting shallower conventional oil and gas formations. The most active counties for drilling were Bradford, Susquehanna and Washington counties for Marcellus wells, and Forest, McKean and Warren counties for non-Marcellus wells.

Natural gas

Pennsylvania's natural gas producers operate in excess of 55,000 wells to deliver over 198 billion cubic feet of gas to the market. Pennsylvania produces enough natural gas to satisfy 25 percent of the state's annual demand. Pennsylvania consumes about 804 billion cubic feet of natural gas every year.

Crude oil

Pennsylvania oil producers operate more than 19,000 wells to produce 3.6 million barrels of Pennsylvania Grade crude oil each year. Penn Grade Crude is a superior quality, paraffin- based crude oil that is refined primarily into lubricating base stocks. Lubricants made from Pennsylvania Grade crude oil have been the choice of equipment manufacturers and consumers more than 100 years.

Coalbed methane

Pennsylvania producers are also involved in developing coalbed methane resources in the state. Coalbed methane, the natural gas from underground coal seams, is an emerging energy source that rivals conventional natural gas in composition and heating value. Coalbed methane is commonly used like other natural gas supplies for domestic, commercial and industrial fuel. There are approximately 1,000 coalbed methane wells in Pennsylvania.

(Information sources: US Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection)