The purpose of this web page is to provide our patrons with information on the topic of Marcellus Shale as well as other forms of Natural & Renewable Energy currently being explored and/or developed in Pennsylvania and the United States. **This page is still a Work-in-Progress.**
Marcellus Shale - What is it?
"Marcellus Shale is a geological formation that was formed by the accumulation of sediment into a sea. This formation was eventually buried over many thousands of years and compressed to produce an organic-rich black shale." - What is Marcellus Shale, Marcellus Shale Education & Training Center website.
Online Resources
Marcellus Shale
Oil & Gas Leases in Westmoreland County
Governor's Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission report
Penn State Marcellus Center for Outreach & Research (MCOR)
Other Natural & Renewable Energy SourcesU.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy
Pennsylvania Energy: Petroleum, Natural Gas, Coal, Renewables
How to find who has an Oil & Gas Lease in Westmoreland County, PA:
- Visit the Westmoreland County Recorder of Deeds website.
- Under Municipality enter 'Ligonier' (or Cook, Fairfield, Unity, Donegal, etc.)
- Then set the Recorded Between start date to be 'January 1, 2006'.
- Under the Document Category highlight 'MISC'.
- Narrow the search by entering an organization name or first/last name, or just a last name.
In additon to oil and gas leases, the results may also show Power of Attorney documents, etc. You will need to look for the Document Type to say 'Oil & Gas Lease' or possibly 'Lease' with the 'Grantee' to be the name of an oil and gas company. In order to load the second page of documents, you will need to click on the 'Detail Data 201-?' button on the bottom left of the page. If you find a lease of interest, you can click on 'Display Doc' to view or print the pages. If you are unable to view the documents, then you will need to download the viewer: www.wcdeeds.us/dts/default.asp.