Clients of Nuttall Legal have long known about the Upper Devonian formation, also known as the Burket formation here in West Virginia.  It’s shallower than the Marcellus, and not terribly thick, but has good potential to produce natural gas.  Gas and Oil Mag has an article on the Upper Devonian formation that should be interesting to anyone thinking of signing an oil and gas lease.

The important point to remember is that the Marcellus and the Utica are not the only producible formations down there.  The Upper Devonian is probably not the last of the formations, either.  As technologies change and the price of gas increases with demand, formations that were previously uninteresting will become financially feasible.  The lease that you sign today could be in effect for generations as the original formation is developed and runs low, only to be replaced by a well to another formation.  You have to think to the future as much as you possibly can when negotiating an oil and gas lease.