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[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

"Pennsylvania, where the Marcellus Shale appears to be thickest, is  
the heart of the action so far. Leasing agents from Texas and Oklahoma  
are knocking on doors, leaving voice mail messages and playing host at  
catered buffets to woo dairy farmers and retirees. They are rifling  
through stacks of dusty deeds in courthouse basements to see who has  
underground mineral rights to the deepest gas formations.

"Thomas B. Murphy, a Pennsylvania State University educator who runs a  
program to instruct landowners on their rights, estimated that more  
than 20 oil and gas companies will invest $700 million this year  
developing the Marcellus Shale. Up to one half of that will be  
invested in Pennsylvania, he estimated.

"The cost to companies for leasing mineral rights jumped from $300 an  
acre in mid-February to $2,100 now. “It shows you the pace this is  
going,” Mr. Murphy said. “I would call it breakneck.”

"Dale A. Tice, a lawyer representing landowners in lease negotiations,  
said companies were on a “feeding frenzy.”"



From: There’s Gas in Those Hills

By CLIFFORD KRAUSS
Published: April 8, 2008

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/business/08gas.html?em&ex=1207886400&en=3513e391adf7ae70&ei=5087%0A