NYS Shale Gas Horizons: First Marcellus, Then Utica, and Now Upper Devonian?

Little-noticed fine print plucked from a long-running stream of eternally optimistic press releases from Norse Energy:

“These increased reserves and resources are primarily the result of the enhanced geologic understanding and advanced development planning that occurred during 2011,” commented Norse CEO Mark Dice. “Newly certified shale oil resources in Western New York are an exciting addition to our asset portfolio.” commented Dice. [emphasis mine]

I connect the dots on this as follows:  Recent western PA-based exploration of such shale layers as Rhinestreet, falling within the younger-than-Marcellus Upper Devonian, is leading insiders to an upward reassessment of the potential for shale gas, shale gas liquids, and shale oil — from popularly obscure formations underlying parts of both western PA and western NY (the latter of which is host to a non-contiguous part of Norse's otherwise CNY-based leasehold).

This poses a good reason for WNY resource owners to stay much more tightly abreast of the Ongoing Shale Gas Debates, as they rage with much more ferocity in other areas of Upstate — lest they discover, five or ten years down the road, that they or their children have been unwittingly beaten out of an opportunity they didn't even realize they had.