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.
Read More “The Reason Nucor Investing $2.7B for New Steel Mill in WV? NatGas”
Rystad Energy, a Norwegian-based energy research and business intelligence company, issued its latest research yesterday that predicts employment in the U.S. oil and gas industry is set to rebound in the coming years and eventually surpass pre-COVID levels. Rystad says the industry will add roughly 108,000 new jobs this year. However, we won’t hit pre-pandemic levels of employment, says Rystad, until 2027–five years from now.
Read More “O&G Jobs Recovering in 2022, Won’t Reach Pre-Pandemic Until 2027”
As we told you last week, Energy Transfer, during its first quarter update, spoke about the now-completed Mariner East pipeline system that flows NGLs, including ethane, propane, and butane, from eastern Ohio and southwestern Pennsylvania all the way to southeastern PA and the Marcus Hook terminal (see Energy Transfer 1Q: ME Pipe Done; Possible Marcus Hook Expansion). Here’s two pieces of information we picked up in a new article in the Philly Inquirer: (1) The original ME1 Pipeline (an older pipeline repurposed to use for NGLs) is being converted back into flowing refined fuels from Midwestern refineries to the Philadelphia market, and (2) a temporary workaround pipeline in the Philly area used for ME was taken out of service back in February.
Read More “Mariner East Pipe Fulfills Promise as Southeast Pa. Economic Engine”
Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senator Pat Toomey visited the Lackawanna College School of Petroleum and Natural Gas (PNG) near Tunkhannock (Wyoming County), PA yesterday. What struck us about coverage of the event is that PNG officials said they don’t have enough students to fill all of the available, open positions for graduates and that people from the industry said they don’t have enough workers to fill jobs in the Marcellus Shale.
Read More “Marcellus Industry Tells U.S. Sen. Toomey “We Need More Workers””
Last week the Energy Workforce & Technology Council, a national trade association for the energy technology and services sector representing those who work in the technology-driven energy value chain, released data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that show March employment in the U.S. oilfield services and equipment sector rose by an estimated 2,698 jobs to 608,702. We’re still almost 100,000 jobs down from a pre-pandemic high of 706,528, but the numbers are moving in the right direction.
Read More “U.S. Oilfield Services Sector Adds Another 2,698 Jobs in March”
In the early days of the Marcellus and Utica Shale, a number of studies and predictions were made about how the industry would bring tens of thousands of jobs and inject billions of dollars into state economies. In Ohio, a Cleveland State University (CSU) report issued in 2012 predicted that Ohio’s then-growing fracking industry would add 66,000 direct and indirect jobs and $5 billion a year to the state’s economy by the end of 2014 (see New Study Predicts 65K Jobs in Ohio by 2014 from Utica Shale). Did those numbers pan out? What about since that time?
Read More “Did Ohio’s Utica Shale Provide Promised Jobs/Economic Benefits?”
According to the Bureau of Labor Statics, the oilfield services and equipment industry grew by over 7,000 jobs in December 2021. Marcellus/Utica companies can’t find enough workers to fill all of the open positions in our region, especially in Pennsylvania. According to an article in the Wellsboro Gazette (Tioga County, northeastern part of the state), companies in Tioga and Potter counties can’t fill all of their open positions.
Read More “Help Wanted: M-U Companies Recruiting, Positions Going Unfilled”
Founded in 1946, the Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO) represents nearly 3,000 individuals and companies from the Texas oil and gas industry. TIPRO is one of the country’s largest oil and gas trade associations and a strong advocacy group representing both independents and royalty owners in Texas. TIPRO generates some great research reports, including their latest annual “State of Energy Report” for 2022. The report, which looks at oil and gas across the country (not just Texas) finds that the O&G industry supported a total of 832,869 direct jobs in the U.S. last year. The U.S. O&G sector paid a national annual wage averaging $115,166 during 2021, 76% higher than average private sector wages!
Read More “U.S. Oil & Gas Average Wage in 2021 was Staggering $115,166”
The list is, unfortunately, long and getting longer. Atlantic Coast Pipeline. PennEast Pipeline. Constitution Pipeline. And others. Yes, each one of those massive projects that got canceled means a loss of revenue for the companies involved, and a loss of takeaway capacity for drillers in the Marcellus/Utica region. However, perhaps the biggest loss is the jobs those projects would have provided for union workers. The cancellation of each of those projects resulted in the loss of revenue and income for union workers–direct harm to families. Have you thought about those costs?
Read More “NatGas Pipes in the Marcellus/Utica Boost Union Jobs, Lower Prices”
A Shell spokesman last week said that the mighty ethane cracker plant the company is building in Monaca (Beaver County), PA is now 80% complete and projected to be operational “sometime this year,” although a more specific date can’t be nailed down. Currently, there are some 8,000 workers who report to the construction site each day. Simply astounding! When the plant is done and operational, it will employ about 600 permanent on-site workers. Shell is now in recruiting mode to find those 600 permanent workers.
Read More “Shell Says PA Ethane Cracker 80% Done, Looking for Perm Workers”
The so-called Ohio River Valley Institute (ORVI) is a far-left, hyper-partisan, nonprofit organization that routinely lies about the Marcellus/Utica industry. A Pittsburgh area labor and business group called Pittsburgh Works Together (PWT) routinely debunks ORVI’s falsehoods. Here’s the latest lie from ORVI: “[T]he Shell petrochemical complex has failed to produce economic growth in Beaver County.” Here’s the truth, the facts, as shared by PWT: “In the years before the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, Beaver County grew jobs far faster than the overall Pittsburgh region, the state of Pennsylvania, and the U.S, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of labor statistics. And Beaver County’s economy expanded twice as fast as the rest of the state, and faster than the U.S. economy overall, gross domestic product (GDP) data show.”
Read More “Fact: Shell Cracker a Huge Positive for Beaver County Economy, Jobs”
Here’s a startling statistic: A survey of nearly 17,000 global energy industry companies, recruiters, and workers conducted by Brunel and Oilandgasjobsearch.com shows 43% of current employees in O&G want to leave the energy industry altogether, within the next 5 years. Here’s an even bigger flabbergaster: When asked which sectors they’d pursue employment opportunities in, 56% of those working in oil and gas said they will look for new work in so-called renewable energy.
Read More “43% of O&G Workers Want to Leave the Industry – Jobs Go Unfilled”
Some super-exciting news to share about a massive, $6 billion petrochemical plant coming to northeastern Pennsylvania. On Friday, PA State Sen. John Yudichak, who wisely left the Democrat Party and became an Independent, announced Nacero Inc. will build a $6 billion manufacturing facility on the site of a former coal mine in Newport Township and Nanticoke in Luzerne County, PA. The plant will convert Marcellus natural gas into zero-sulfur gasoline for use in their existing cars and trucks without modification.
Read More “NEPA Huge Deal – $6B Plant to Convert Marcellus Gas to Gasoline”
Last week America’s Rural Energy Coalition (AREC), a national organization created by rural community stakeholders and industry representatives from across the country to build sustainable rural communities by maximizing the opportunities and minimizing the challenges presented to them as a result of the development of their regional energy resources, held a regional meeting in Bradford County, PA. While AREC advocates for safe development of all forms of energy in rural America, front and center at last week’s meeting was the mighty Marcellus Shale and the critical role of oil and natural gas in the lives of every citizen on planet earth (and to the people of PA).
Read More “Rural Energy Coalition Mtg in Bradford, PA Touts O&G’s Critical Role”
On Monday the Pennsylvania Senate Community, Economic & Recreational Development Committee together with the Senate Environmental Resources & Energy Committee held a joint hearing on consumer and economic impacts of failing to invest in Pennsylvania’s natural gas infrastructure. Strong views were aired. State Sen. John Yudichak, chairman of the Economic Development Committee shared a startling and disturbing fact…
Read More “Radical Enviros Cost PA $4B in Canceled Projects Last 3 Years”
Thanks to a sharp MDN reader/friend, we were alerted to a rather bizarre situation with the current issue of the Youngstown Business Journal. Once upon a time, the YBJ wrote encouraging (and accurate) stories about the Utica Shale industry and its many benefits in the Buckeye State. Lately, the YBJ has been taking potshots at the Utica, claiming it hasn’t panned out as advertised. Take the latest MidSeptember edition where two articles appear. One article boldly states that after 10 years there is “No Gusher of Jobs” in the Utica. Yet another article contradicts the first and states, “It’s Construction Jobs in Gas and Oil.” Bizarre.
Read More “Youngstown Biz Journal – Ohio O&G Does/Does Not Generate Jobs”