SOUTHERN TIER, N.Y. -- When New York's largest natural gas producer opened its headquarters in Chemung County, it seemed to foreshadow the start of drilling in the rich Marcellus Shale. But so far, that hasn't happened.

"There is no drilling going on in New York in that important exploration and production area," said Fortuna Energy spokesperson Mark Scheuerman.

New York's governor has put a moratorium on new drilling methods that would be used to explore the shale, pending environmental review. So Fortuna went elsewhere.

"Our intention is to drill where we can do it responsibly, predictably and where there is a regulatory and business environment that accommodates that. Right now, New York doesn't meet those minimum tests," Scheuerman said.

Just over the border, Pennsylvania does. And wells are popping up in the Northern Tier. Fortuna has one running, another one drilled and five more permitted. Chemung County Executive Tom Santulli says others are doing the same and that's costing the Southern Tier and New York State.

"New York right now is losing hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue in natural gas exploration because all of these companies have left," Santulli said.

Santulli says the longer the review takes, the less likely it is that Fortuna and others will come back.

"What I'm afraid is going to happen is the natural gas companies will just continue to go further south. And even though we still have the natural gas, they might not come back here for years," Santulli said.

Scheuerman says that may be true, depending on leasing rights, regulations and the price of gas, which is now unfavorably low.

"Those three primary things will dictate whether New York will have a viable opportunity for Fortuna Energy," Scheuerman said.

The New York State environmental review is expected to continue, at least into next year.