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WELLSBORO - Of 376 drilling points in the Marcellus Shale next year, 150 are targeted for this area, those attending the annual Growth Resources of Wellsboro dinner Tuesday night were told.

A full house greeted East Resources Engineering Manager Paul Dudenas at the event. East Resources explores, develops and produces natural gas, he said, something very important in the ever increasing demand for energy in today's global economy.

According to Dudenas, East Resources, with headquarters in Warrendale, holds leases on more than one million acres of land in the Appalachian Basin, with growth expected in Pennsylvania.

At its recently expanded offices in Wellsboro, there are six geologists, 10 engineers and 10 landmen, as well as support personnel, Dudenas said.

The reason it took so long for natural gas exploration to come to northcentral Pennsylvania, Dudenas said is because of the "complex geology" of the region, but modern horizontal drilling methods have made it easier to unlock the energy locked in the shale under the region.

"That is until the Marcellus Shale came along," he said "There's a lot of gas out there to be found, and we're going to go find it."

"Though North America makes up only about 7 percent of the world's population, it uses 27 percent of the world's energy," he said. "Because of our high standard of living here, we are energy hogs."

With the world's population expected to increase by 50 percent in the next 20 years, Dudenas said he expects the demand for energy will continue to grow.