Newark basin study part of US earthquake network

Oct. 7, 2013
Pennsylvania’s Department of Conservation & Natural Resources has let a contract to Penn State University for a 2-year study of the geology of the southern Newark basin.

Pennsylvania’s Department of Conservation & Natural Resources has let a contract to Penn State University for a 2-year study of the geology of the southern Newark basin.

The Newark Triassic basin covers portions of southern New York, western New Jersey, and eastern Pennsylvania. Drilling is sparse, and no commercial hydrocarbon production is taking place in the basin.

Drilling has occurred in Bucks County, Pa., but a drilling moratorium is in effect in Bucks and Montgomery counties until 2018 (see map, OGJ, Feb. 12, 2007).

The study is part of a larger federal program to place a network of permanent and temporary seismic sensors across the US to monitor earthquakes.

The US Geological Survey has estimated that the South Newark basin could contain an undiscovered technically recoverable resource of 363-1,698 bcf of natural gas.