Courtesy: Trans Energy Inc.

Gas drillers say operations in West Virginia and neighboring states are so successful they'll keep expanding.

At a Tuesday conference in Pittsburgh, drillers and pipeline builders talked about the rapid growth of the industry as it taps the natural gas deposits of the Marcellus Shale field.

Triad Hunter chief executive Gary Evans told The Intelligencer his company will be drilling about one well a month in 2011.

Because of their depths, the Marcellus and Utica shale fields require unconventional horizontal drilling technologies. Evans says traditional drilling just can't compete when it comes to volume.

Triad Hunter's parent, Magnum Hunter Resources Corp., operates 182 miles of pipeline across West Virginia and two active Tyler County wells.

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