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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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 
Last week, MDN told you about the third and final public hearing held by the Pennsylvania House Philadelphia LNG Natural Gas Export Task Force (see 
Using data from several government agencies, the Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia, Inc. (GO-WV) published its annual Gas Facts report last week. According to the report (copy below), West Virginia natural gas production increased 6% to 2.8 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) in 2022. WV has moved up from fifth to now fourth largest natural gas producer in the country, providing 10% of the entire country’s natural gas supply! Combined severance tax revenue from natural gas, oil, and natural gas liquids contributed 70% (nearly $714 million) of the over $1 billion allocated to the State General Revenue Fund for fiscal year-end June 30, 2023. The O&G sector in WV employs more than 17,000 direct jobs in the state, with an average salary of $93,739. According to a study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, indirect jobs in WV related to the O&G industry number over 73,000 and contribute nearly $13 billion to the state’s economy.
If you work for an oil & gas company (driller or pipeline company), you might think the skills you would need are along the lines of handling heavy equipment or using a shovel, chainsaw, and other hand tools. But many O&G workers sit in offices. What kind of “soft” (non-industry specific) skills do they need? According to Hazeltine Executive Search Partners, O&G workers need three primary soft skills: effective communication, problem-solving, and adaptability. Let us explain…
Two Houston, Texas-based headhunting firms specializing in the oil and gas space are saying the same thing: Don’t look for a hiring boom in the oil and gas sector in 2023. That doesn’t mean there’s a total hiring freeze or that there aren’t good jobs to be had. It just means don’t look for bidding wars to attract new employees to the O&G sector. Not gonna happen this year, say the experts. Why?
Yes, you can “phone it in” for your job if you work in the oil and gas industry. According to search firm Piper-Morgan Search, remote work, at least for some jobs in oil and gas, “is an established reality now and it’s not going away.” Some workers are 100% remote and don’t (or won’t) go into an office to do their job. How cool is that? Of course, like many industries, not every job can be done remotely. Which type of O&G jobs can be done remotely?
Did you watch the Big Game on Sunday? We watched until half-time (routing for the Eagles, because they’re a PA team). However, you have to admit that Patrick Mahomes, the quarterback for the Chiefs, was truly impressive. The Chiefs deserved to win. Mahomes was named the MVP (most valuable player) of the game. We’d like to suggest there was another MVP, the real MVP, of Sunday night’s game in Phoenix, Arizona: natural gas.
The Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO) recently released the eighth edition of the organization’s “State of Energy Report” (full copy below). The report gives a detailed analysis of national and state trends in oil and natural gas employment, wages, and other key economic factors for ?the energy industry in 2022. The U.S. oil and gas industry employed 948,943 professionals in 2022, according to the report. That’s down from the all-time high of 1.3 million in 2019 but up 39,721 from 2021. When adding direct and indirect jobs, the oil and gas industry supported more than 19 million (!) jobs last year.
There are a fair number of MDN subscribers who read our stories looking for opportunities to find a job in the great Marcellus/Utica industry. We spotted an article that may help. Rigzone talked with several top headhunters that specialize in the energy space. We’ll say right up front we’re not talking about roustabouts and field hands, but scientists and engineers. How do you catch the interest of a potential employer with a resume? How do you impress someone during an interview? And what bad habits should you avoid during your search process?
The Marcellus/Utica region is becoming a booming real estate market and manufacturing destination in the U.S., with manufacturing investment currently estimated at over $100 billion, according to Bryce Custer from NAI Spring Commercial Realty. What’s drawing manufacturers to the M-U region? Geopolitical instability, supply chain disruption, the reshoring trend, and abundant raw materials, including cheap (and clean) M-U natural gas.
Chip manufacturing giant Intel has committed to building two semiconductor factories in New Albany, Ohio, making a huge investment of over $20 billion. It is the largest economic development project in Ohio’s history. Amazing! The two plants will need natural gas, lots of it. So local utility company Columbia Gas of Ohio has proposed building a new 4.2-mile, 12-inch pipeline to the facility. The pipeline will be constructed within public road rights-of-way within Delaware County, Licking County, and Franklin County, as well as in the City of New Albany. Columbia is requesting expedited state approval (and is likely to get it).
