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Plastics Industry Crowns Ohio #1 State for Plastics Employment

The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) has just published its “2022 Size and Impact Report” (Executive Summary below). In general, the report shows how the U.S. plastics industry, which is critical and necessary for modern existence, is growing. Manufacturing plants that use plastics once moved overseas and are now returning the U.S. Why? To take advantage of cheap plastics being produced here as a result of shale energy. Here’s something that surprised us about the report: Ohio is the #1 state in the entire country for the number of jobs in the plastics industry. Ohio beat out both California and Texas (the two most populous states in the country) in plastics employment. Wow!
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Ohio’s Top O&G Counties Lag in Jobs, but Not Because of Shale

When we first spotted an article by PBS titled “Why Ohio’s top oil and gas producing counties continue to lag in jobs,” we were intrigued. The “deck” of the article (the little subtext directly under the headline) says, “A decade into Ohio’s shale gas boom, seven Appalachian counties still have unemployment rates that exceed the state average. Experts and local sources suggested four reasons why fracking hasn’t closed the gap.” The implication is that fracking and the jobs it could and would create were oversold. Jobs from fracking are smoke without fire. Yet the article itself appears to prove just the opposite–that fracking HAS led to a dramatic increase in jobs in Ohio.
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Europe Killed Fossil Fuels, Manufacturers Now Moving to U.S.

European political leaders have been hell bent for leather to kill off fossil fuel energy used in their respective countries. And they have pretty much done it. They’ve been successful–at least with reducing the production of fossil energy. Europe has restricted new investment in fossil energy and is now paying the price. According to François-Régis Mouton, regional director for Europe at the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers, Europe has “killed fossil energy.” European manufacturers that depend on fossil energy–either for heat and electricity or as an input into their processes (like fertilizer plants using natural gas), are shutting down. Some are relocating to the U.S.
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Shell Officials Optimistic Cracker Plant Will Attract New Business

Earlier this week, Shell announced its mighty ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA (near Pittsburgh) is finally, ten years after first announcing, fully operational and producing plastic pellets (see Shell Officially Launches Pa. Cracker Plant Using M-U Ethane). Part of the raison d’etre for granting the plant a $1.7 billion break on taxes for 25 years is to lure manufacturers (and investments, and jobs) to locate nearby, in PA (see Gov. Corbett’s PR Campaign for $1.7B Cracker Plant Tax Break). So far, frankly, that hasn’t happened. At least not in a big way. But don’t worry, says Shell execs. They are “optimistic” the region will attract new manufacturing plants that want to use Shell’s plastic pellets.
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PA Gov Wolf Signs into Law $2.1B Tax Credit Bill for H2, NatGas

Pennsylvania House Bill (HB) 1059 is legislation to provide $142 million annually in state tax credits for several purposes, including clean hydrogen hubs, use of natural gas, semiconductor manufacturing, and milk processors. HB 1059 was approved by both the state Senate and House last week and sent along to Gov. Tom Wolf for his signature (see PA $2.1B Tax Credit Bill for H2, Natural Gas Passes & Goes to Gov). We are delighted to report Gov. Wolf signed HB 1059 into law yesterday, much to the frustration and consternation of the environmental left.
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PA $2.1B Tax Credit Bill for H2, Natural Gas Passes & Goes to Gov

As we mentioned yesterday, House Bill (HB) 1059, legislation to provide $142 million annually in state tax credits for several purposes, including clean hydrogen hubs, use of natural gas, semiconductor manufacturing, and milk processors, was approved by a Senate committee and is on a fast track to becoming signed into law (see PA Senate Ctte Approves Tax Credit for Hydrogen, Natural Gas). Not long after a Senate committee approved it, the full Senate voted to pass it with a large bipartisan majority (41-8), followed by the House voting to concur with the Senate’s changes (139 to 59). The bill is now on Gov. Tom Wolf’s desk for his signature, which is expected (maybe even today).
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M-U Shale is a Big Reason Why Manufacturers are Locating in WV

Last Thursday, representatives from manufacturing and the energy sectors delivered their thoughts on the future of the national and local economies at the 2022 Economic Outlook Conference sponsored by the Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce. Front and center at the event was talk about the role of shale energy in revitalizing West Virginia and making it THE go-to place to set up new manufacturing operations. One speaker pointed out: “(West Virginia) is the only place in the world where you can build your manufacturing facility on top of your natural resources, your energy, and your raw materials in the middle of the biggest market in the world.”
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Recruiting, Retaining Talent Key Issue at Marcellus to Market Conf

Yesterday the Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association (PIOGA) held its annual Marcellus to Market conference at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows in Washington, PA. The event explored efforts to promote manufacturing in Pennsylvania, natural gas as a transportation fuel, the future of the long-rumored Appalachian Storage Hub, and the latest regarding pipelines and other means of delivering natural gas to market. A key focus for the event and topic for a panel discussion in the morning was workforce recruiting, development, and retention. MDN friend Charlie Schliebs, Chairman of the Energy Innovation Center Institute and Managing Director of Stone Pier Capital Advisors, moderated this lively panel.
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Shale POWER Workshop Educates Ohio Manufacturers re Opportunities

On Monday, local business leaders in Jefferson County, OH, were treated to an update on the Utica Shale and how local manufacturers can benefit from the growth in the shale industry. According to Robert Naylor, executive director for the Jefferson County Port Authority, “the (purpose) of the workshop was to stress or demonstrate how the business community — vendors and manufacturers — could enter the energy supply chain to create jobs, workforce development and overall economic game for our region.” Two powerhouse speakers from Shale POWER, Katie Klaber and Matt Henderson, educated local business leaders.
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PA Trade Unions Donate Millions to Jobs-Killing, Anti-Shale Shapiro

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me every time, shame on me. This is the trap that trade unions have fallen into by backing Democrat candidates like Josh Shapiro for Governor in Pennsylvania. On one level, it makes no sense. Why would unions back someone who will, as soon as he takes office, begin to enact policies that kill union jobs (pipeline workers, construction workers, welders, plumbers, etc.)? Shapiro has done nothing but attack the shale industry since he took office as Attorney General. Yet a number of trade unions whose members work on shale jobs have backed Shapiro–to the tune of $3 million. Why?
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Shale Crescent Pitches M-U to European Reps at Energy Security Summit

Bryce Custer with Romanian Ambassador to the U.S., Andrei Muraru

In 2016 a group of business and government leaders from Ohio and West Virginia in the Mid-Ohio Valley banded together to form an economic development group called Shale Crescent USA (see Group Promotes Mid-Ohio Valley for Petrochem: Shale Crescent USA). The aim of the group is to attract manufacturers (particularly petrochemical manufacturers) to set up shop in the region, close to the most abundant supplies of cheap natural gas in the entire world. Members of Shale Crescent USA recently attended the American Energy Security & International Trade Summit in Washington D.C. where they pitched the Marcellus/Utica region to representatives from several Eastern European counties.
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Biden DOE Names New Minister of Low-Paying Renewable Jobs

Betony Jones

The Bidenistas have appointed a global warming true-believer to head up the Dept. of Energy’s Office of Energy Jobs. But not just any type of energy jobs. They must be “renewable” jobs, or they’re just no good and won’t be supported. Betony Jones, previously the Senior Advisor on Workforce in the Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, will become the Director of the new program. We call her the minister of low-paying renewable energy jobs–because that’s exactly what these jobs are. Low-paying. Her job is to convince labor unions that trading in high-paying fossil energy jobs for low-paying renewable energy jobs is magical and desirable. Good luck with that.
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M-U Supply Chain Businesses in Pittsburgh See Jump in Sales

It finally seems as if economic activity is picking up once again in the Marcellus/Utica. And we don’t mean just shale drillers and pipeline companies. The companies that supply those companies–the supply chain–is seeing an uptick in business, according to an article appearing in the Pittsburgh Business Times. Companies like U.S. Steel, MSA, and Steel Nation are reporting strong increases in sales in 2022.
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US Energy & Employment Report Shows Big Job Loss in Fossil Fuels

There’s no way for the Bidenistas to put lipstick on this pig–but they tried anyway. The Biden administration’s Dept. of Energy published its annual U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER) yesterday. The report shows HUGE fossil fuel industry job losses in 2021. The report finds the fuels technology sector experienced job losses totaling 29,271 jobs in 2021, down 3.1% from 2020, with the majority of losses coming from the fossil fuel industry.
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Women Excel in Marcellus Shale Jobs in NEPA

Karen Hubbard, sales representative for Rain For Rent, with a heating unit on a Susquehanna County gas pad. (click for larger version)

Women make up a small but growing part of the natural gas industry in the northeastern Pennsylvania Marcellus. Estimates are that women make up 15 to 22 percent of the workforce in the petroleum and natural gas industry. Below are the stories of several women who have found rewarding work in the NEPA Marcellus–and it’s not just success with indoor jobs.
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The Reason Nucor Investing $2.7B for New Steel Mill in WV? NatGas

The largest private investment in the state of West Virginia in history, not to mention the largest investment for the company making it, Nucor Steel, is happening because of abundant, cheap, Marcellus/Utica natural gas. Nucor is building a $2.7 billion new sheet steel mill in Mason County, WV, largely due to locally sourced and affordable energy.
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