New Penn State Study on Economic Impacts of Marcellus Drilling
A new 62-page study (embedded below) conducted by Penn State and the Pennsylvania College of Technology looks at the economic impact of natural gas drilling in PA. The study, titled “Economic Impacts of Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania: Employment and Income in 2009,” uses a new (and according to the authors more accurate) methodology to calculate gas drilling’s economic impacts on local communities. The authors suggest the economic impacts of Marcellus drilling for local communities are not as big as previously reported.
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Now we know why it’s called “The Mighty Marcellus.” New production figures for the first six months of 2011 show that on all counts—natural gas, gas liquids, and even oil—the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania is producing a tremendous amount of new energy. Figures for the southwestern part of PA show a 55 percent increase in production over the previous six month period.
Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon on Monday appeared on Jim Cramer’s Mad Money show on CNBC to talk about the company’s new, oil-rich discovery in the Utica Shale of eastern Ohio. He had some fascinating things to say, including that he expects there to be some 25,000 wells drilled in the Ohio Utica Shale, and that there will be $10 billion per year for at least 20 years (or $200 billion) of investments in the Ohio Utica Shale alone. Yikes! No wonder Gov. John Kasich is “gushing” about Chesapeake’s discovery. An investment of 1/5 of a trillion dollars is a major big deal for Ohio—not only for landowners but also for businesses and for those who will be employed by drilling and associated industries. You cannot overstate how important this discovery is.
MDN has previously commented on the obvious vendetta by the New York Times against the natural gas industry, most particularly in articles written by Ian Urbina (