VENANGO COUNTY, Pa. -- Hitting a natural gas desposit in the Marcellus shale, a deep strata that strips through two-thirds of Pennsylvania, is a crap shoot that, while risky, could pay huge dividends.

In the past seven years, drilling aimed at that elusive but enticing shale has ramped up all over the four-state, 54,000-square-mile Appalachian Basin, and that turf includes Clarion County, according to two industry representatives who offered their takes on the drilling activity at a breakfast forum this week in Clarion. A large group of drillers, landowners and others attended.

Read the full article at the Oil City Derrick.