HARRISBURG — A judge on Wednesday ordered a temporary halt to the section of Pennsylvania’s new Marcellus Shale law that puts limits on the power of municipalities to regulate the booming natural gas exploration industry, a victory for the seven municipalities that sued.

However, the Commonwealth Court senior judge, Keith Quigley, suggested that the towns’ wider challenge to the constitutionality of the local zoning limitations is questionable, saying in a two-page order that he’s not convinced that the “likelihood of success on the merits is high.”

Still, Quigley said, municipalities need enough time to develop new zoning rules under the eight-week-old law and have them in place to regulate oil and gas drilling before their existing zoning becomes invalid Saturday.

Quigley ruled several hours after listening to arguments in court for a half-hour and then speaking with lawyers privately in his chambers.

“What we were seeking was 100 percent what the court granted,” said John Smith, the solicitor for Robinson Township in Allegheny County.

With regard to Quigley’s comments about the wider lawsuit, Smith said he’s not concerned because Quigley will not hear the case. Rather, a Commonwealth Court panel could hear it, or it could go to the state Supreme Court if Quigley’s order is appealed, Smith said.

A spokesman for Gov. Tom Corbett pointed out the judge’s doubt about the ultimate success of the lawsuit and said the administration is considering its options, including whether to appeal.

“All this decision means is that municipalities will get an additional 120 days to come into compliance with the zoning provision of the law,” Corbett spokesman Eric Shirk said.

The law’s local-zoning provisions, which had been scheduled to take effect Saturday, set statewide limits on the extent to which a municipality can regulate the booming Marcellus Shale industry, including well drilling and construction on pipelines and compressor and processing stations.

But lawyers for the seven municipalities argued that allowing the law to invalidate ordinances later this week would not have given towns enough time to rewrite their rules to comply with the law, or to challenge its constitutionality. As a result, they said, towns would be temporarily powerless to protect their residents’ quality of life and property values, especially if companies promptly seek permit.

The municipalities also are seeking to have the law’s local zoning provisions struck down as unconstitutional, and they had asked Quigley to allow local zoning ordinances to stand in the short term. He granted that request.