Betting on profits

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette
Workers clamp two sections of pipe together as they are lowered into the ground at the Chief Oil and Gas drilling rig near Salladasburg on Monday.

Ken Balliet, left, an extension forester for Pennsylvania State University, and Tom Murphy, of the PSU Cooperative Extension, take a closer look at the core samples of Marcellus Shale inside sample pipes at the Chief Oil and Gas drilling rig near Salladasburg Monday.

Lonnie Ernst, a field analyst for Terra Tek, marks a core sample pipe in one-foot increments for cutting before they are sent off to Utah for analysis.

Kristi Gittins of Chief Oil and Gas shows off a core sample of Marcellus Shale before it is shipped to Utah for analysis. The samples were taken from a depth of 7,100 feet, in search of natural gas.