Pennsylvania has been in a shale gas boom for more than a decade. Recently FracTracker Alliance published an animated map that dramatically depicts the exponential growth in the number of gas wells across the state. Each of these requires a network of pipelines and compressor stations to bring the gas to market. What's happened in Pennsylvania has been happening around the globe.
It's a huge development industry funded by investors eager to cash in, and the boom is about to bust. Gas prices are down, yet momentum is still propelling the development ahead (PA DEP predicts that 30,000 miles of new pipeline will be built in the next decade.)