Quick and Dirty on Utica Shale

So, what exactly is Utica Shale?  If you live in North East Ohio there's a good chance you've started to hear about it.  It wasn't too long ago that Marcellus Shale was the shale in the news, but oh how the tides have turned.  Utica shale is below the Marcellus formation.  In fact it can be up to 7000 feet below it.  Part of the reason that Ohio has become such a hotspot is that in parts of the state the formation is only 3000 feet blow the Marcellus.  It is also a much thicker formation with the potential for yielding more petroleum products.  The formation is from about 450 million years ago and dates to the Late Ordovician period.  The formation is also huge.  It covers area from New York to Ohio and down into Tennessee.  Take a look at this map to see.

So there's the quick and dirty on Utica shale.  It's a deep bed of rock that could yield lots and lots of oil and gas.