Rejuvenated Appalachian Basin Provides Economic Boost To Northeastern United States By Al Pickett Special Correspondent Sometimes it is nice to stop and smell the roses. Within the span of a dozen years from the 2004 drilling of the Marcellus discovery well in Washington County, Pa., oil and gas operators ramped up natural gas production in the Keystone State to 5.1 trillion cubic feet. That record-high annual production total in 2016 represented a 65-fold increase over 2009, when Pennsylvania's Marcellus output was 78.4 billion cubic feet, and placed it behind only Texas as the largest gas-producing state in the union. George Stark, director of external affairs for Houston-based Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation, says it is important to pause occasionally and reflect on what the industry has accomplished in its remarkable development of the Marcellus and Utica shale plays that have rejuvenated the historical Appalachian Basin. AUGUST 2017 79