Economic Impact

Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Research

Netherlands Research Co. Predicts Marcellus will Reach 7.7 Tcfe by 2020
November 8, 2012November 7, 2012

Netherlands-based ASDReports.com has just released a new research study focusing on the Marcellus Shale titled, Marcellus Shale in the US, 2012 – Gas Shale Market Analysis and Forecasts to 2020. The company issued a press release (below) which hits some of the highlights from the study. Among the astonishing predictions: The Marcellus Shale will produce a “massive” (their words) 7,685 billion cubic feet equivalent of gas by 2020—or said another way, 7.7 trillion cubic feet equivalent. They predict the Marcellus will be producing 4,861 bcfe (4.9 tcfe) by 2015.

Here’s the press release announcing the study with a few juicy tidbits thrown in:

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Economic Impact | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Mahoning County | Ohio | Uncategorized | V&M Star Steel

Youngstown Plant Produces Special Steel Pipe for Drilling
November 7, 2012November 7, 2012

More than two and half years ago V&M said they would build a new $650 million steel pipe plant in Youngstown, Ohio and create 350 new jobs (see this MDN story). The new plant would manufacture steel pipes used in Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling. Last week the first pipe to be produced at the promised plant rolled (pun intended) off the production line.

But just what kind of pipe is V&M making for the shale drilling industry? A special kind of pipe called OCTG…

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Supply Chain | Washington County

Hotel in Rural Western PA Makes it Big from Marcellus/Utica
November 6, 2012November 6, 2012

Another feel good story about a small hotel that made it big because of the Marcellus and Utica Shale. This story comes from rural Bentleyville, PA, not far from West Virginia and Ohio:

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Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

The Latest Permit/Drilling Numbers for OH Utica Shale
November 5, 2012November 5, 2012

A quick update on numbers for the Utica Shale, including how many permits have been issued to date in the Utica, how many wells have been drilled, how many rigs are operating and how many permits have been issued county by county, courtesy MDN friend Bob Downing of the Akron Beacon Journal:

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Stark County | Supply Chain

Rural OH Motel Sees Business Soar with Utica Drilling
November 5, 2012November 5, 2012

It’s a story that’s told so much, people may get tired of hearing it: hotels and motels boom when there is shale drilling nearby. MDN delights in bringing you stories of small businesses that do well—extremely well—because of shale gas drilling. So please indulge us as we bring you one more, this one from rural Ohio…

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Aqua America | Economic Impact | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Aqua America Says Shale Gas Will be Big as Coal/Steel for PA
November 5, 2012November 5, 2012

Last week Aqua America CEO Nicholas DeBenedictis addressed Drexel University students at the 2012 Energy/Utility Forum held at Drexel and told them the natural gas industry in Pennsylvania will be the biggest thing to come along, economically, since the “heydays” of coal and steel in the state.

Here’s a summary of what he said to Drexel students:

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Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Research

New Study: U.S. Shale Drilling = 1.6M Jobs, $245B in 10 Yrs
November 2, 2012November 2, 2012

The American Clean Skies Foundation has just released a major new study (copy embedded below) based on analysis by ICF International which finds that shale oil and gas drilling in the U.S., from 2007 to 2017 (10 years) will lead to the creation of upward of 1.6 million new jobs and increase the country’s domestic gross product (GDP) by as much as $245 billion. These are seriously huge numbers.

The 123-page study takes a detailed look at where the jobs are being created (state by state), and the types of jobs created. It is without a doubt the best kind of economic stimulus—it doesn’t come from the government! Here’s the press release announcing and summarizing the findings of the study:

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Commodity Price | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Wyoming County (PA)

Oklahoma Manufacturer Buys Interest in PA Marcellus Wells
November 1, 2012November 1, 2012

This is a fascinating (to MDN) story about where the industry and economics for shale gas drilling may be heading. Yesterday LSB Industries, an Oklahoma City chemical (and equipment) manufacturer that depends on natural gas as its raw materials, announced they have purchased ownership interest in 14 producing natural gas wells, 7 soon-to-be producing wells and 36 yet-to-drilled wells in the Marcellus Shale, in Wyoming County, PA.

Why would a manufacturing company invest in natural gas wells? As a hedge against natural gas prices going higher—which they believe is going to happen relatively soon. They want a piece of the action that supplies their company with a key raw material, to keep their future costs down. Smart.

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Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | New York | Statewide NY

NY vs ND Unemployment Rates: Why is One High, the Other Low?
October 31, 2012October 31, 2012

We interrupt this blog post to bring you the following news: New York’s unemployment rate is 8.2% (a full 9% in Chemung County). The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 345 out of 372 metro areas in the country (93%) have lower unemployment rates than the New York State average. The lowest unemployment rate in the country? North Dakota—at 2.2%.

Why is ND’s unemployment rate so low? And why is NY’s so high? Is there a connection?

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Commodity Price | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

Marcellus May Produce Additional 5Bcf/d of Gas in Next 14 Mo
October 31, 2012October 31, 2012

A blogger on the Seeking Alpha website says the Marcellus is “a ticking time bomb” waiting to “explode” with a tremendous amount of new natural gas production that will flood into the U.S. marketplace over the next 1-2 years. How much new gas? Blogger David White makes a compelling case he believes an additional 5 billion cubic feet of new natural gas will flow—from just the Marcellus Shale region—by the end of 2013.

Here’s his reasoning:

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Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Sandy’s Affect on Drillers in the Marcellus & Utica Shale
October 31, 2012October 31, 2012

Although Hurricane turned Super Storm Sandy gave New York City, Delaware and New Jersey a big, black eye (and we grieve for their losses), further inland Marcellus and Utica Shale drillers prepared for and appear to have avoided any major impacts from the storm. Some production was and still is shut in to avoid potential problems, but given the storm is now mostly gone from the Marcellus and Utica Shale region, shut in production should quickly come back online.

Here’s a Sandy report from four of the largest drillers in the Marcellus:

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Statewide OH | Supply Chain

Plugging in to the Marcellus & Utica Shale Supply Chain
October 31, 2012October 31, 2012

Although some of the initial frenzy of activity has subsided, drilling in Ohio’s Utica Shale continues, and along with it comes a growth in business, jobs and economic impact.

Here are a few stories of Ohio businesses that have seen a major impact from plugging in to the Marcellus and Utica Shale “supply chain”:

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Sandy’s Effect on Marcellus/Utica Shale Drilling & Production
October 30, 2012October 30, 2012

It seems the entire country watched with morbid fascination as Hurricane-now-Super Storm Sandy slammed into the northeast yesterday. The exceptionally large and powerful storm—some 1,000 miles across—lingers over what is essentially the Marcellus and Utica Shale region of the U.S. As of early Tuesday more than 5 million people are without power due to storm damage. New York was heavily hit with the highest storm surge to hit Manhattan in over 200 years, flooding subway tunnels and covering some city streets. The New York Stock Exchange is closed for two consecutive days for the first time since 1888. Truly history in the making.

How will Sandy affect drilling, production and refining in the Marcellus? Reports came in yesterday that refineries were shutting down in advance of the storm. Production coming from the field likely will not be affected all that much, but drilling is another matter. Some drilling operators reported they would lay down rig masts until the storm passes.

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Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Europe Commits “Energy Suicide” While America Fracks Future
October 29, 2012October 29, 2012

Have you ever noticed how refreshingly honest the international media is when compared with U.S. mainstream media? Case in point: The London Telegraph has a story detailing how the miracle of hydraulic fracturing has turned the U.S. into an economic powerhouse once again—and how Europe is committing energy suicide by not leveraging fracking.

The article says, in part:

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Chesapeake Energy | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | NGLs | Processing Plants

Plans to Use Natural Gas to Create $2/Gal Diesel Fuel
October 29, 2012October 29, 2012

A Bloomberg article highlights technology with roots all the way to Nazi Germany will soon be used to convert natural gas into natural gas liquids and into hydrocarbon products including low-price diesel fuel, gasoline and jet fuel.

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Economic Impact | Industrialization | Industrywide Issues | Jobs

Anti-Drilling Objection: Shale Drilling Causes Boom & Bust
October 26, 2012October 26, 2012

Two and one half years ago MDN editor first heard about “boomtowns” at a talk by Cornell Professor Tony Ingraffea. Ingraffea is a well-known anti-driller who traipses hither and yon to spread the anti-fracking message—from the halls of Congress to local town libraries to college classrooms with young, impressionable minds. That night, Dr. Ingraffea talked extensively about how local towns in the Western U.S. went through a cycle of building up (or “boom”) due to energy exploration, and then almost overnight went “bust” once the energy was mined and the companies left town. It was quite a horror picture he painted (see this MDN story recounting Ingraffea’s talk).

MDN has heard the same argument on and off over the years since. The latest example is a story published yesterday titled, “Will Shale Create Ohio Ghost Towns in 2040?” Every time MDN editor hears that argument it makes us angry. Here’s why…

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