From Kallanish Energy: There is a “new” play that’s beginning to garner some serious interest in the Appalachian Basin, with one major basin player admitting it’s moving to a drilling program centered on this particular play. This play is stacked with the Mighty Marcellus in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and thus, until now, has pretty much been an after thought in those two states. The ‘dry’ Utica But the Utica Shale is going to break out in a big way as exploration takes place. Yes, that Utica Shale. Thought by many as an eastern Ohio play, geologic maps indicate the Utica is much bigger than the Marcellus, covering more area, more states, extending under Lakes Erie and Ontario, and into Canada. In fact, the thickest portion of the Utica in terms of pay is in Westmoreland County, in southwest Pennsylvania. “Since the Utica gets relatively deeper and drier moving east, it’s often referred to as ‘dry Utica’ in Pennsylvania and West Virginia,” according to Marissa And