November 26th, 2013 by WCBC Radio
Drew Cobbs, executive director of the Maryland Petroleum Council, says the longer Maryland delays in allowing drilling for natural gas in Marcellus Shale- the more the western region of the state will be missing out on hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. Cobbs, who is also the eastern regional director for the American Petroleum Institute, said last week while some of the initial leases in Western Maryland for rights to drill for gas remain in effect, a large number have expired. Cobbs said that even if the recommendation from Governor Martin O’Malley’s Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Initiative Advisory Commission is to allow drilling- Maryland will have the strongest and likely most strictst fracking laws in the nation and that will discourage drilling. If drilling does occur in Maryland, Cobb says it would likely be near the Pennsylvania border, where infrastructure for moving the gas already exists. He adds that it also won’t take place until at least 2017. If it does ever come to fruition, Allegany and Garrett counties will realize tremendous economic benefits…
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