The Upper Devonian geologic, which lies just above the giant Marcellus shale, potentially holds as much gas as the Marcellus, a top manager at Range Resources said recently.

Ray Walker, a senior vice president at Range Resources, stated at the Oil and Gas Investment Seminar held by the Independent Petroleum Association of America that the Upper Devonian potentially holds "probably an equal amount of gas per section…as there is in the Marcellus," according to the media outlet.

"The Marcellus in that part of the state is wet, and where it's wet, [the Upper Devonian layer] will also be wet," Walker said in reference to the gas' BTU content.

Earlier in the year, Range Resources estimated that Upper Devonian contains between 10 trillion and 14 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, Marcellus Shale Business Directory Blog reports.

Walker stated that his company has drilled a few test wells in the formation and will probably begin drilling the next one near the end of 2012 as a result of scheduling, according to Platts. One of the first wells drilled seems to contain 4.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas.