OXFORD – A group of 350 landowners representing approximately 24,000 acres in the Oxford area will soon be putting out to bid lease offers to a host of interested natural gas companies.

While details of the bid package were not disclosed, the group’s consultant said the project is “very close to shutting down.”

Most of the land in the group is located in southwestern Chenango County, with some as far north as East Pharsalia. The Oxford Land Group, as it’s called, started with roughly 600 acres on May 5 and closed membership on July 22 with 24,000 acres.

“We hope to be bringing everyone to the table soon, and we expect the bids to be competitive,” said consultant Jackie Root.

Gas companies have been eyeing Chenango County and elsewhere in the Appalachian Basin to tap into the large quantities of natural gas buried underground. While the Marcellus Shale bed has been characterized as “the motherlode” of subsurface layers, others, such as the Herkimer and Oneida strata, also have substantial quantities. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has permitted 65 wells in Chenango County, with 10 planning to drill into the Marcellus as soon as DEC regulations are rewritten per Governor Paterson’s request earlier this month. Gas wells have most recently been drilled in Preston, Smithville and Coventry.