The Utica Shale, among the latest in the shale rush, is boosting lease prices in the northeastern US and in southern Quebec as operators probe its high-Btu gas.

The increasingly popular Ordovician Utica, sometimes paired with the Lorraine or Collingwood shales, covers approximately 7,500 gross sq miles in the Appalachian province, with the current sweet spot in southern New York where it lies about 10,000 ft deep. Potential also exists into Pennsylvania.

ICF International, in its "Availability, Economics, and Production Potential of North American Unconventional Gas Supplies," prepared for the ...