(AP) - POTENTIAL: The energy industry is excited about the prospects of extracting natural gas from the Marcellus Shale, a layer of rock about 6,000 feet below ground that extends from western New York, across Pennsylvania and into eastern Ohio and parts of West Virginia.
NUMBERS: Penn State University researchers estimate that companies, with new drilling technology, could retrieve 50 trillion cubic feet of gas from the shale, which could boost U.S. reserves. The United States produces about 19 trillion cubic feet of gas a year.
PROFITABLE?: The big question is whether tapping into this reservoir is cost-effective.
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