Buffalo, N.Y.-based Zone Oil & Gas LLC has entered an exploration and geophysical joint venture with Penn Virginia Corp., Radnor, Pa., (NYSE: PVA) for Pennsylvania assets.

The joint venture covers approximately 40,000 acres under lease in Tioga, Potter, Somerset, Westmoreland and Fayette counties, Pennsylvania, and centers on exploring the Marcellus shale and the Oriskany and Tuscarora formations. The joint venture will conduct at least one 3-D seismic survey and intends to drill up to six wells in 2009.

Zone chairman Thomas H. O’Neill Jr. says, “Zone, through its predecessor entities, has recorded solid success in the Oriskany in Pennsylvania and West Virginia over the past 25 years. We strongly believe that the Marcellus, Oriskany, Tuscarora, and Trenton Black River formations in the Appalachian Basin have tremendous potential for future development.” SJP