"Don't know if I've mentioned it but I'm sitting on top of the Marcellus Shale formation here in Pittsburgh, PA. Estimates are as high as 500 TRILLION cu. ft!! Perhaps more than 10% is recoverable. There are problems w/ quicker than expected declines in the Barnett formation (Texas), but as the technology is so new, no one is sure why. I have been looking for land w/ mineral rights the past year but as you might expect, it hasn't been easy. This year, given the real estate crunch here, and still weak natgas prices should be the time to pull the trigger. (if I can find a gun!)

"Shale gas IS the game changer in the energy world. There is a bill in congress that would encourage natgas transportation research and development."

David Fuller's view Good luck with the prospecting. As one who has presumably studied sites which may contain hidden reserves of shale gas, do you think I should try to obtain the mineral rights beneath our home in London SW7?