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OFS Co. with 75 Jobs Moves from Washington, PA to Chester, WV

Here’s something you don’t read about every day. An oilfield services company, Heavy Iron Oilfield Services, recently moved from its birthplace (founded in 2011) in Washington (Washington County), PA, across the border to a new location in Chester (Hancock County), WV. Washington County is a hotbed of drilling activity in Southwestern PA. But then again, Hancock County sees a lot of drilling, too. The reason for the move? Easier access to multiple job sites in the tri-state area and a pool of qualified workers to expand the business.
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NexTier Closing Frack Office, Laying Off 104 in Tioga County, PA

Last June, Patterson-UTI Energy, which operates roughly half of the active rigs in the Marcellus/Utica, announced it was merging with NexTier Oilfield Solutions in a combination that would create the #1 company in fracking services in the country (see Patterson-UTI & NexTier to Merge, Bigger Fracker than Halliburton). The merger was completed last September. However, the NexTier name was kept on the door, at least in some locations, including an office with operations in Mansfield (Tioga County), PA. NexTier recently filed a WARN notice that it will close the Mansfield office and begin to lay off its 104 employees effective April 13th.
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Washington County, PA Panel Discusses Future of ARCH2 Hydrogen Hub

The Washington County (PA) Chamber of Commerce held an event last week with a panel of experts involved with the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) to discuss the long-term impacts of the project on the local economy and job market. ARCH2 was first proposed by (mainly sponsored by) West Virginia. Ohio and Pennsylvania later joined in supporting the ARCH2 proposal, which was selected by the Bidenistas as one of seven regional hydrogen hubs to share in a $7 billion pot o’ gold (see Hydrogen Hub Winners Announced – WV Takes Prize in M-U Region). ARCH2’s portion of the money is $925 million.
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Layoffs Hitting the Gas Fields, Including Marcellus/Utica

According to Reuters, oilfield service companies and drillers have put the brakes on hiring and “further job cuts could loom” as natural gas producers respond to sliding prices by slashing spending on new wells to reduce excess production. We told you yesterday that Chesapeake Energy announced a coming rig and frac crew cut in the Marcellus (see Chesapeake Dropping 1 Rig in Marcellus as it Waits to Merge with SWN). But it’s not some far-off “maybe it will happen” thing. Layoffs in the M-U are already happening. For example, fracking company NexTier merged with Patterson-UTI last September. Because of duplication of services, Patterson recently announced it will close a facility in Mansfield, Pennsylvania, affecting some 104 employees.
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Look for O&G Jobs to be Trimmed Later in 2024 Due to Mergers

Although oil and natural gas output is still increasing ever-so-slightly, according to experts like Rystad Energy, the rate of production growth has slowed. And because production is slowing, “investments in the shale patch are not expected to grow in 2024, keeping activity and output relatively flat” this year. How does slowing activity in 2024 affect employment in O&G in 2024? Rigzone asked a couple of experts. One comment in particular caught our attention because it has implications not only in the Texas oil patch, but also in the M-U gas patch.
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PA House Member Calls Shapiro DEP “Weaponized” and a “Jobs Killer”

During a Pennsylvania House Republican Policy Committee hearing on strengthening rural communities held on Wednesday, Rep. Bud Cook (R-Waynesburg) didn’t hold back when assigning blame for why the state’s rural communities are losing population and experiencing economic growth. Cook said, “The overriding impediment is Governor Shapiro’s DEP,” referring to the Dept. of Environmental Protection. One of Cook’s chief complaints is how long it takes to get a simple permit issued from the DEP.
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What Kinds of Jobs are Available in Oil & Gas Sector in 2024?

Rigzone asked several U.S.-based oil and gas recruitment experts what themes will dominate oil and gas recruitment this year. What kind of job opportunities will American oil and gas provide this year? One respondent said jobs will continue to be field engineering and specialist roles, jobs not requiring degreed engineers or geoscience professionals. What about drilling specialists, tool pushers, etc.?
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U.S. O&G Jobs Slight Decline in December, but Up Overall in 2023

The Energy Workforce & Technology Council, located in Houston, TX, is a national trade association for the global energy technology and services sector, representing more than 650,000 U.S. jobs in the technology-driven energy value chain. The Energy Workforce Council works to advance member policy priorities and empower the energy workforce of the future. The Council closely tracks job numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Yesterday, the Council issued an update on O&G job numbers for December and for all of 2023. Interesting factoid: In December, the M-U industry employed 44,192 people.
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Oil & Gas Jobs Continue To Grow – Latest Numbers for PA, OH, WV

The Energy Workforce & Technology Council, based in Houston, TX, is the national trade association for the global energy technology and services sector. The Council reports jobs in the O&G sector increased in November, adding 1,286 jobs. The O&G industry employs 652,398 jobs across the country, just 54,130 jobs away from returning to pre-pandemic levels. And how much do those jobs pay? The average hourly earnings for frontline oil-and-gas workers rose 1.3% in October from the previous month to $44.11, according to a Labor Department report released last week.
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Lib Dems Try to Fool PA Unions to Accept Radical Enviro Policies

The environmental left is on the march in Pennsylvania, and nothing, including building trade unions, is going to stop it. Both constituencies (environmentalists and trade unions) traditionally make their political home in the Democrat Party. The problem for PA’s Democrat politicians is how to balance the ever-wacko leftward tilt of environmentalism and its jobs-killing policies (“block all shale drilling” and “no new pipelines”) with the trade unions that support fossil infrastructure like new pipelines. It is a delicate balancing act, requiring Dem politicians to convince (lie to) union members to keep their support. We’re sorry to say the unions (largely the bosses) keep falling for the lies and electing Dems.Continue reading

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Muskingum Watershed Generated $1B in Econ Impact from Utica Drilling

For more than a decade, MDN has brought you stories about shale development on and under land controlled by the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD), an agency formed in 1933 to help control flooding and promote water conservation in the Muskingum River watershed area of Ohio, an area that covers 8,000 square miles (see our Muskingum Watershed stories here). Over the years, MWCD has leased tens of thousands of acres for Utica Shale drilling and cut deals to sell water to drillers for fracking. According to a new study from Cleveland State University, the MWCD’s aggressive leasing for Utica drilling has brought more than $1 billion in economic stimulus to the region. And not one penny is government (your) money! It’s all private money being injected into the Buckeye State.
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Need a Great Job in O&G? Six Supermajors Hiring Right Now

Looking for a great job in the oil and gas industry? From apprentices and graduate opportunities to highly skilled professionals in IT and technology, sales and marketing, finance, upstream, and trading, bioenergy, EV charging, hydrogen… even so-called renewables and power — six oil and gas supermajors are hiring. They include BP, Shell, TotalEnergies, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and (yes, even our enemy) Saudi Aramco. They all want new employees. Find out more below.
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PA Republican Legislators “All-In” on Regional Hydrogen Hubs

Senator Camera Bartolotta, R-Washington, speaks in support of hydrogen hub development in Pennsylvania on October 24, 2023 at the State Capitol.

Five Pennsylvania Republican State Senators held a press conference yesterday at the State Capitol in Harrisburg to proclaim their love and support for hydrogen projects in light of the recent Biden Hydrogen Hub Hunger Games announcement. As we’ve been covering for over a week, seven projects were selected to receive a collective $7 billion in funding from the Bidenistas, including the WV-led Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) project (see Hydrogen Hub Winners Announced – WV Takes Prize in M-U Region). Pennsylvania will get a small (but meaningful) piece of the action as part of ARCH2. PA will also participate in a second hydrogen hub project — the Delaware-led Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub (MACH2) project. The Republican Senators like PA’s prospects for both ARCH2 and MACH2.
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Marcellus Shale Created 123K Jobs, Added $41B to PA Economy in 2022

Natural gas development is fundamental to the health and strength of Pennsylvania’s economy, supporting well over 100,000 family-sustaining careers, boosting state tax revenues, and generating billions in economic benefits, according to a new economic impact analysis (full copy below) commissioned by the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC). The analysis, released at the kickoff of the SHALE INSIGHT™ conference, underscores the economic benefits of natural gas development across the entire Commonwealth as well as the sector’s projected impacts through 2050. Pennsylvania’s natural gas sector supports about 123,000 statewide jobs and contributed more than $41 billion in 2022 state economic activity, according to the report created by energy economists at FTI Consulting, Inc., a global business advisory firm. Additionally, natural gas production royalties paid to private and government entities reached $6.3 billion in 2022 alone.
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Is Fracking Good for Pennsylvania? MSC Destroys Anti-Fracking Screed

The nutters are out in full force, particularly in Pennsylvania, using fraudulent “studies” by the Ohio River Valley Insititute (ORVI) and (sadly) the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) to call for an end to the Marcellus industry in the great Keystone State. A recent “letter to the editor” appearing in the Sunbury (PA) Daily Item is a perfect example. On Sept. 3, the Daily Item ran an op-ed titled “Is fracking good for Pennsylvania,” concluding that it is not. It was written by a member of the Climate Reality Project, a far-left organization that irrationally hates fossil energy. The typical references were made to the fraudulent ORVI and Pitt studies. Ten days later, another op-ed appeared in the Daily Item, written by David Callahan from the Marcellus Shale Coalition, setting the record straight.
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Maine Cement Plant Closing Because Gas Pipeline was Canceled

Actions have consequences. Environuts, like the lefties in Maine, seem to forget that. In early 2021, Summit Natural Gas of Maine, a regional utility company, announced plans to extend its service territory into Maine’s Midcoast region with a $90 million pipeline project (see Summit Natural Gas of Maine Plans Small $90M Pipe in Midcoast). The company’s expansion into Knox and Waldo Counties would bring natural gas to residential and commercial customers, like the Dragon Cement plant in Thomaston, and to the communities along the Route 1 corridor. After the announcement, environuts raised such a fuss that Summit surrendered without a fight and canceled the project (see Environuts Cause Summit to Cancel $90M Pipe Project in Maine). Dragon says because of the canceled pipe, it will now close the plant, devastating Thomaston with lost jobs and lost tax revenues. Consequences.
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