Economic Impact

Brooke County | Economic Impact | Electrical Generation | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Marshall County | West Virginia

Big News: 3 More Marcellus-Powered Electric Plants Coming to WV
March 6, 2015March 6, 2015

Three weeks ago MDN reported a Buffalo, NY-based company had successfully gotten all necessary permits to move forward with building a $615 million, 549 megawatt electrical generating plant near Moundsville, WV that will be powered by Marcellus Shale gas (see Marshall Co Gas-Powered Electric Plant Gets WV Green Light). Then we told you the plant will burn not only methane (natgas), but also up to 25% of the mix will be ethane (see WV Moundsville Electric Generating Plant to Burn Methane + Ethane!). Looks like the Moundsville project was the proverbial canary down the WV coal mine–and it lived! In the past few days the father and son team behind the Moundsville project have announced three (yes 3!) more just like it–all in WV. Why is this a big hairy deal? The Moundsville plant was already slated to be WV’s single largest user/consumer of natural gas. Just think how much gas will be used quadrupling that number…
Read More “Big News: 3 More Marcellus-Powered Electric Plants Coming to WV”
Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Cleveland Fed Finds PA Natgas Production Up 1000% from 2009-2014
March 5, 2015March 5, 2015

Earlier this week the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland published a paper titled “Trends in Energy Production and Prices” (full copy below). In the paper, Cleveland Fed researchers examine national and Fourth District (KY, OH, WV, PA) trends in energy production and prices. What did they find? OH and WV doubled their natural gas production from 2009 to 2014. However, production in PA went up 1000% during that time, thanks to the Mighty Marcellus. Because of shale gas, energy prices are generally down across the region. Coal production is also on the decline in the northeast…
Read More “Cleveland Fed Finds PA Natgas Production Up 1000% from 2009-2014”
Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Research

New Research: Shale Drilling has Enormous Benefits for Economy
March 2, 2015March 2, 2015

A new research paper recently published by researchers at the University of Wyoming takes a close look at the economic benefits and potential pitfalls of shale drilling. The paper, titled “The Economics of Shale Gas Development” (full copy below) was accepted last November for publication later this year in the Annual Review of Resources Economics. The upshot of the paper is this: there are ENORMOUS economic benefits from shale drilling–and we’ll realize those benefits as long as we don’t screw it up. That is, we need to be mindful of, and careful to manage, the environmental impacts from drilling…
Read More “New Research: Shale Drilling has Enormous Benefits for Economy”
Belmont County | Economic Impact | Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | Jefferson County (OH) | Jobs | Monroe County | Ohio | Pipelines

List of Towns in 4 SE OH Counties Getting ET Rover Pipeline
February 26, 2015February 26, 2015

Southeast OH will soon see a lot of new pipelines being laid, and along with it, a lot of new jobs. Energy Transfer Partners recently briefed Monroe County Commissioners on the ET Rover pipeline project, an 800-mile, $4.4 billion pipeline that will connect the Marcellus and Utica Shale region to Canada (see ET Rover Pipeline’s 800-Mile Journey Begins with FERC Filing). If the pipeline is laid as currently planned in the southeastern portion of Ohio, the pipeline will traverse 46.31 miles in Monroe County, 34.99 miles in Belmont County, 20.06 miles in Jefferson County and 17.7 miles in Harrison County. Here’s a list of the lucky townships in those four counties where the pipeline is due to go…
Read More “List of Towns in 4 SE OH Counties Getting ET Rover Pipeline”
Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Property Value | West Virginia

Marshall County Property Values Rise Yearly Thx to Marcellus
February 12, 2015February 12, 2015

In contravention to the erroneous claim by anti-drillers that property values go down when drilling comes to town, Marshall County, WV continues to prove it’s just the opposite. Last year at this time MDN told you that the property values in Marshall County for 2013 had collectively risen an astonishing $605 million–in just one year (see When Drilling Comes to Town, Property Values Go…UP, Not Down). What about property values in 2014? They broke the record, again. Values are up a collective $631 million!…
Read More “Marshall County Property Values Rise Yearly Thx to Marcellus”
Economic Impact | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Research | Statewide PA | Sunoco Logistics

New Study: Mariner East 1 & 2 Pipelines Mean $4.2B Windfall in PA
February 6, 2015February 6, 2015

Sunoco Logistics has an important new tool in its fight to build the Mariner East 1 and Mariner East 2 pipeline projects in Pennsylvania. Mariner East 1 is already partially up and running but needs the final leg completed that will connect it to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia (see Range Cuts 2015 Drilling Budget 33%; Mariner East Up & Running!). Mariner East 2 is still on the drawing board. It will be a new 350-mile pipeline, most of it laid next to Mariner East 1 (see Sunoco Logistics Will Build $2.5B Mariner East 2 Pipeline). The new tool? Sunoco hired Econsult Solutions Inc. to do a proper, independent, rigorous and accurate study of the potential economic impact from the two projects on the PA economy. The study, titled “The Economic Impact of Sunoco Logistics’ Mariner East Projects in Pennsylvania” (full copy embedded below), says the two projects will add $4.2 billion to Pennsylvania’s economy, support more than 30,000 jobs during the construction period, and create 300-400 permanent jobs…
Read More “New Study: Mariner East 1 & 2 Pipelines Mean $4.2B Windfall in PA”
Dauphin County | Dominion Energy | Economic Impact | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA | Supply Chain

Dominion Selects PA Company to Manufacture 540 Miles of Pipe
February 5, 2015February 5, 2015

Keepin’ it in the family. Love it. Dominion plans to build the Atlantic Coast Pipeline–a 550-mile, $5 billion natural gas pipeline that will flow, cheap, abundant, clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas from West Virginia into Virginia and North Carolina (see Dominion Commits to Major New Marcellus/Utica Pipeline Project). Provided the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approves it, construction will begin in 2016. Yesterday, Dominion announced that a Pennsylvania company near Harrisburg–Dura-Bond–has been selected to manufacture 540 of the 550 miles of the pipe needed for the project. It is, according to Dura-Bond, the largest order in the company’s history. The announcement doesn’t disclose the terms of the deal, but we do know it will generate 150 new jobs at Dura-Bond and inject a huge amount of money into the Harrisburg-area economy starting later this year. American/Pennsylvanian jobs, American/Pennsylvanian company. All in the heart of the Marcellus…
Read More “Dominion Selects PA Company to Manufacture 540 Miles of Pipe”
Commodity Price | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues

NJ’s Biggest Utility Cuts Gas Rates 31% Thx to Marcellus Shale
February 5, 2015February 5, 2015

New Jersey, the state that keeps fighting pipelines and fracking, keeps getting lower and lower utility rates thanks to…pipelines and fracking. NJ’s largest utility, Public Service Electric and Gas, has just announced another cut in rates, a whopping 31% cut, thanks to the Marcellus Shale…
Read More “NJ’s Biggest Utility Cuts Gas Rates 31% Thx to Marcellus Shale”
Blue Racer Midstream | Economic Impact | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Williams

Marcellus-Utica Midstream Conf: $30B of NE Infrastructure Needed
January 30, 2015January 30, 2015

Day two, and the concluding day at the Hart Energy Marcellus-Utica Midstream Conference in Pittsburgh, proved as interesting as the first day (for a day one recap, see Marcellus-Utica Midstream Conf: Marcellus is “Best of the Best”). One of the speakers on day two was Scott Williams, executive VP and chief commercial officer for Blue Racer Midstream, who spoke about his company’s processing plants in the northeast. Blue Racer’s Natrium, WV plant connects to Sunoco Logistics’ Mariner West ethane pipeline, which carts Blue Racer’s ethane to Sarnia, Ontario (Canada) and the Nova Chemicals Corunna ethane cracker. Blue Racer also operates the Berne processing plant in Monroe County, OH. According to Williams, “in excess of $30 billion worth of infrastructure still needs to be built” in the northeast. Wow! That should keep a variety of companies busy for a while. A VP from midstream giant Williams (which recently bought out Access Midstream) agrees…
Read More “Marcellus-Utica Midstream Conf: $30B of NE Infrastructure Needed”
CNG/LNG | Economic Impact | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Statewide PA

PA-Based Air Products Wins Another Gulf LNG Plant Contract
January 30, 2015January 30, 2015

Air Products is a Wilkes-Barre, PA manufacturer that builds huge rocket-looking “production trains” or “heat exchangers”–pieces of equipment that turn natural gas into liquefied natural gas, or LNG. Last September, Air Products signed a deal to produce two heat exchangers for an LNG export plant in Texas (see Air Products Wins Contract for TX LNG Plant, Marcellus Connection?). They’ve done it again! Air Products announced Wednesday they’ve signed another agreement–this one is to produce three heat exchangers for the Cameron LNG Liquefaction Project, located in Hackberry, Louisiana. As with the Texas plant, we believe there’s a connection to the Marcellus in this new sale…
Read More “PA-Based Air Products Wins Another Gulf LNG Plant Contract”
Economic Impact | Exporting | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

World Gone Upside Down? ANGA Video Appears on CS Monitor Website
January 29, 2015January 29, 2015

MDN came across an interesting article/video on the Christian Science Monitor website. The article and video is from Marty Durbin, President and CEO of America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA). In the video, Marty takes a look at the shale revolution–in particular the Marcellus–and how it’s changing America for the better. We had to do a double-take. This kind of article on the CS Monitor? Have the lib editors suddenly gone conservative?? Then we realized–it’s “sponsor content” or contributed content. ANGA paid CS Monitor to post the story, a story (and video) from ANGA themselves. This kind of sponsored content is an expanding trend in publishing. As long as the story is clearly marked as sponsored, it doesn’t “sully” the journalistic reputation and integrity of the editors–or so the theory goes. Aside from the “inside baseball” aspect of being sponsored content, we found ANGA’s post a useful update, and the short video (6 minutes) is well worth spending a few of your minutes to watch…
Read More “World Gone Upside Down? ANGA Video Appears on CS Monitor Website”
Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Regulation

Obama’s Faint Praise of Natgas in State of Union, Inhofe’s Rebuttal
January 21, 2015January 21, 2015

Last night was the second-to-last State of the Union speech to be given by our Dear Leader, Barack Hussein Obama (hallelujah!). While Obama gave credit to the oil and gas industry for generating most of the jobs created during his pathetic presidency, he also said he wants to regulate it more. Typical. He persists in calling carbon, the stuff you breathe out with every breath, “pollution” and he’s hellbent on regulating it–even though at the same time he admits we’re producing less of it! Go figure. Below we have the section of Obama’s speech where he talks about energy, including shale gas, along with the response from Sen. Jim Inhofe, the chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. We love Inhofe–he doesn’t suffer fools well and he minces no words about Obama’s out-of-control regulatory mandates. We like Inhofe’s take: Americans are resilient. Together we can survive the Obama Administration…
Read More “Obama’s Faint Praise of Natgas in State of Union, Inhofe’s Rebuttal”
Economic Impact | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Trumbull County

Lordstown Gas-Powered Electric Plant Moves Up Construction Timeline
January 15, 2015January 15, 2015

In April 2014, MDN told you about a proposal from Clean Energy Future to build an $800 million electric generation plant in Lordstown (Trumbull County), OH. The plant will be fired by natural gas from the Utica and Marcellus (see Clean Energy Plans NatGas Electric Generation Plant in Lordstown). At that time, the plan was to begin construction in December 2015 and complete the plant by the end of 2018. There was initial opposition to the plant because the site on Salt Springs Road would need to be re-zoned from residential to industrial. That didn’t go down well with the neighbors. Clean Energy Future has changed the plan to a different location. Those who once opposed the plant now embrace it and want it as a jobs-creator for the area. This is a happy story of industry and residents working together for a positive solution. It illustrates what happens when adults behave like adults…
Read More “Lordstown Gas-Powered Electric Plant Moves Up Construction Timeline”
Allegheny County | Economic Impact | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | New York | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide NY | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Transco | Williams

Williams Spending $100 million Per Month in the Marcellus/Utica
January 14, 2015January 14, 2015

There’s an excellent regional television program in Pittsburgh called “Our Region’s Business” hosted by veteran reporter Bill Flannigan. On December 7, Jim Scheel, Senior Vice President for Northeast G&P for Williams, appeared in a segment on the program (video embedded below). Scheel shared some eye-popping statistics about the Marcellus/Utica, and about Williams and their commitment to the region. Scheel said, among many things in the short 7-minute segment, that in 2014 Williams spent an astonishing $100 million per month on pipeline projects in the northeast region. They currently employ 750 people in the northeast and over the next year or so expect to add another 160 people to the payroll. What an exciting, dynamic company! Here’s a few more stats Scheel mentioned…
Read More “Williams Spending $100 million Per Month in the Marcellus/Utica”
Economic Impact | Energy Services | Ethane | Housing | Industrialization | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Odebrecht | Ohio | Processing Plants | Washington County (OH) | West Virginia | Wood County

WV/OH Officials Going on Field Trip to Prepare for Cracker Plant
December 24, 2014December 24, 2014

The Odebrecht ethane cracker plant planned for the Parkersburg, WV area continues to walk/smell/act/behave like it’s the real deal. The latest evidence: Odebrecht has told area officials around Parkersburg, you need to be prepared for when the 100% official announcement comes, cause at that point, things will happen fast. So area officials are boning up now to be prepared for an influx of people and jobs–both a good thing, and a challenge. Area officials from Wood County, WV and neighboring Washington County, OH will head to the bitter-cold north country–Minot, North Dakota–in January (!) to see how that community has dealt with a rapidly expanding population and influx of new jobs due to the Bakken Shale…
Read More “WV/OH Officials Going on Field Trip to Prepare for Cracker Plant”
Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Research

CBO Report: Enormous Positive Impacts of US Shale
December 18, 2014December 18, 2014

While Andrew Cuomo and his buddies were busy banning fracking in New York, the Congressional Budget Office (certainly no bastion of conservatism) issued a report on fracking. The new report, titled “The Economic and Budgetary Effects of Producing Oil and Natural Gas From Shale” (full copy embedded below) says we now get 30% of our oil and 40% of our natural gas from home-grown American shale. The report says without safe, clean, fracked American shale, our natural gas prices would be 70% higher than they are. Do you like those low gasoline prices we’ve seen lately? That’s because of American-produced oil from shale deposits. The enormous amount of supply from right here at home is flooding the market and causing prices to drop like a rock. If Cuomo & co had their way, all fracking across the country would stop tomorrow. Dangerously stupid is about the only thing we can think of to say to the strange attitude being exhibited by New York’s so-called leaders. Here’s a high level overview of the CBO study, followed by a full copy of the study…
Read More “CBO Report: Enormous Positive Impacts of US Shale”