Canonsburg, PA – A new study released yesterday sheds light on the robust economic impact that the responsible development of clean-burning, American natural gas continues to have throughout the Commonwealth. Conducted by Penn State University researchers, the analysis underscores how far-reaching, genuine and sustained the growth is associated with Marcellus Shale natural gas production, particularly for Pennsylvania consumers and taxpayers, as well as local small businesses along the supply chain that support the industry. Be sure to visit our Facebook page for photos from yesterday’s event announcing the study’s findings. Following are highlights from the release:

JOB CREATION, ECONOMIC GROWTH, TAX REVENUES

• “Penn State report even more bullish on Marcellus Shale”: An updated Pennsylvania State University economic study of the Marcellus Shale gas boom is even more bullish than past reports, projecting that Pennsylvania could supply a quarter of the nation’s natural gas by 2020. The industry-sponsored study, which will be released Wednesday, says that Marcellus natural gas production is outpacing predictions made only a year ago. Production from Pennsylvania wells, which already supply more fuel than is consumed in the state, could multiply eightfold by the end of the decade. “Our estimates suggest that in 2020 the Marcellus industry in Pennsylvania could be creating more than $20 billion in value added, generating $2 billion in state and local tax revenues, and supporting more than 250,000 jobs,” said the authors associated with Penn State’s department of energy and mineral engineering. (Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/20/11)

• “Marcellus shale added $11.2 billion to economy, report says”: Development of the Marcellus shale added $11.2 billion to the state’s economy last year and may mean a $12.8 billion boost this year, according to an industry-backed study detailed at a U.S. Steel facility in Duquesne. It also supports a growing number of jobs, 140,000 through last year with prospects for another 16,000 this year, according to the Penn State University study commissioned by the Marcellus Shale Coalition. “The Penn State study clearly highlights the impact (of natural gas production),” said coalition president Kathryn Klaber. (McKeesport Daily News, 7/21/11)

• “Penn State forecasts boom for Marcellus Shale”: Thanks to the Marcellus Shale development, the amount of natural gas produced in Pennsylvania could nearly triple within the next decade, according to an industry-funded report. … The Penn State report saidthe total tax impact from drilling in 2010 was $1.08 billion in state and local taxes and $1.43 billion in federal taxes. In 2010, Marcellus development in Pennsylvania accounted for $11.2 billion in so-called “value added,” according to the report. … During 2010, the industry supported nearly 140,000 jobs in the state, the report said. By 2020, that value-added figure could jump to $20.2 billion per year and the supported jobs could total 256,000 — all to produce more than 17.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 7/21/11)

New Marcellus Shale Study Featured on Fox News’ Special Report With Bret Baier

 

• “Marcellus Shale natural gas production jumps, as job opportunities skyrocket”: At its current rate of increase, the prolific Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania could soon lead the United States in natural gas production while employing hundreds of thousands of people, according to a recent study by Penn State. On Wednesday, PennState released a study by the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences … showing a strong support for the regional economy and a major boost to jobs in the area. (Oil & Gas Journal, 7/20/11)

• “New industry report says Marcellus production up”: Investment in the Marcellus Shale natural gas field is growing faster than expected in Pennsylvania, with both the number of wells drilled and the amount of gas extracted soaring between 2009 and 2010, according to an industry-sponsored report released Wednesday. Gas production quadrupled during the one-year period. … The report estimates that this year’s production will be more than 2 1/2 times last year’s, and projects steady growth through 2020. … Total Marcellus spending is projected to rise to $12.7 billion this year from $3.2 billion in 2008, according to the report. It also claims robust employment growth, with about 60,000 jobs in 2009 growing to nearly 140,000 last year. The industry projects it will have more than 156,000 employees this year. (Associated Press, 7/20/11)

• “Growing industry Report spells out economic impact of Marcellus Shale”: By the year 2020, the Marcellus Shale could become the single largest producing gas field in the U.S., supplying one quarter of America’s natural gas. In just five years, the industry drilled 2,300 wells into Pennsylvania’s Marcellus. Estimates are that gas drilling will be a $12.8 billion industry this year, supporting more than 156,000 jobs, generating $1.2 billion in state and local tax revenue and paying about $1.6 billion in leases and royalties, according to an industry report released Wednesday. (Washington Observer-Reporter, 7/21/11)

• “Shale gas boom for PA, not NY”: An new industry-sponsored report of the economic opportunity from natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania has got to have all the various stakeholders — energy companies, reasonable environmentalists, lease-holders and of course politicians — smiling today. According to the Marcellus Shale Coalition, Pennsylvania could lead the nation in natural gas production by 2020. The total economic impact of natural gas drilling from the Marcellus Shale could exceed $12 billion for 2011, the report concludes. “In 2011, Pennsylvania could produce nearly 3.5 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas, making the Commonwealth a net exporter of natural gas right now. This development could support more than 156,000 jobs and generate $12.8 billion in economic activity in Pennsylvania alone. By 2020, according to the study, Marcellus development could support 256,420 jobs,” reports the study. (New York Post, 7/21/11)

• A study funded by the natural gas drilling industry on Wednesday said Pennsylvania’s economy will get a $12.8 billion boost from drilling this year, more than double the amount from 2009, while reaping nearly 140,000 jobs. … The study, funded by the industry group Marcellus Shale Coalition, measured investment and expenditures minus salaries at $4.7 billion in 2009 and $11.1 billion last year, forecasting a rise to $14.5 billion in 2012. (Reuters, 7/20/11)

“MARCELLUS MULTIPLIER” SUPPLY CHAIN

• “Study Examines Economic Impact Of Marcellus Shale Industry”: Drilling in the Marcellus Shale is generating tens of thousands of jobs, according to a new Penn State study. … The study estimates 140,000 jobs – directly and indirectly – are dependent on the industry. “These are all jobs that but for the presence of this industry would not exist,” Kathryn Klaber, a spokesperson for the Marcellus Shale Coalition, said. (KDKA-TV,7/20/11)

• The booming natural gas industry in Pennsylvania is benefiting U.S. Steel Corp., which makes line pipe, trucking companies like PGT Trucking Inc. of Monaca that transport it, and a host of other businesses, representatives said on Wednesday. “This is a really good story for a lot of businesses,” said Douglas Matthews, senior vice president of U.S. Steel’s tubular operations. “We’re starting to see an increase in jobs and a relocation of people back to Pennsylvania.” A supply chain of local manufacturers is developing to support the gas industry, Matthews said. … They are examples of a “cascading impact” on the state’s economy since 2009 from the explosion of activity in the Marcellus shale natural gas reserves, said Kathryn Klaber, executive director of the Marcellus Shale Coalition. …Another company that has benefited from the Marcellus shale boom, Dura-Bond Pipe Inc. of Export, plans to build a pipe-coating plant at the site of the former Duquesne steel mill, said Jason Norris, vice president of commercial tubular products. The operation will create about 75 jobs, Norris said. (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 7/21/11)

• Marcellus Coalition Executive Director Katie Klaber tells Gas Business Briefing the data show fewer wells being drilled that had been projected, but at a greater cost per well and with more gas, on average, flowing from each hole. … “But if you spend more per well that’s more money to the service companies and other businesses to create jobs.” (Gas Business Briefing, 7/21/11)

• “As the largest domestic pipe producer in North America, U.S. Steel is well positioned to serve customers who are working to develop shale natural resources,” said Douglas R. Matthews, USS vice president-tubular operations. (McKeesport Daily News, 7/21/11)

ENERGY SECURITY; CONSUMER, LANDOWNER BENEFITS

• “Penn. shale gas output to more than double in 2011”: Natural gas production from Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale should reach the equivalent of 3.5 billion cubic feet per day this year, more than double 2010’s output, according to new research by a trio of Pennsylvania State University professors. The study, released Wednesday, furtherestimates that production in the state from the deeply-buried rock formation will rise to the equivalent of 6.7 billion cubic feet per day in 2012 and 17.5 bcfe in 2020. That level of production would make the Pennsylvania basin the largest supplier of natural gas in the U.S., able to meet about 25% of the country’s demand, said Kathryn Klaber, who heads the Marcellus Shale Coalition, an oil and gas industry advocacy group. (Dow Jones/MarketWatch, 7/20/11)
• Fmr. PA DEP sec. John Hanger: “Pa Marcellus Production Numbers Are Humongous! No Ponzi Scheme”: The United States Senate held a hearing yesterday to review the charges made by the disgraced NYT gas reporter that shale gas is a ponzi scheme but meanwhile in the real world Pennsylvania Marcellus gas production will reach in 2011 3.5 billion cubic feet per day or approximately 6 per cent of total US gas supply. At least that is the conclusion of 3 researchers at Penn State University in a report with other eye-popping production numbers that was commissioned by the Marcellus Shale Coalition. … Pennsylvania is on course to produce 1.2 trillion cubic feet this year and clearly will reach annual gas production of 2 trillion cubic feet before 2014, the year that I thought the 2 trillion cubic feet milestone would be achieved. These are real and humongous production numbers. (“Facts of the Day” blog, 7/20/11)
• “New Numbers Show PA Gas Production Will Lead Nation”: Pennsylvania has become a net exporter of natural gas and could become the nation’s leading gas producer. A report released Wednesday by the Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry group, says theirproduction for 2010 was higher than expected. Penn State University researchers conducted the study, which was commissioned by the Coalition. (State Impact/NRP,7/20/11)
• “Study: Marcellus gas could provide 25% of US supply by 2020”: Advanced well stimulation techniques used in the Marcellus Shale to “dramatically” increase well production have forecasters scrambling to keep up with just how massive levels of production could reach. In July 2009, a Pennsylvania State University study said Marcellus production could reach 4 Bcf/d by 2020. In 2010, an updated version of the study said 13.5 Bcf/d by 2020 was in play. Now, the third rendition of the Penn State study forecast that production could hit 17.5 Bcfe/d in 2020 if gas prices do not drop. (SNL Energy,7/20/11)
• Pennsylvania is now a net exporter of natural gas, and has the potential to account for 17.5-billion cubic feet of natural gas, per day.  President of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, Kathryn Klaber, says that would be one-quarter of the nation’s natural gas production. … Kathryn Klaber says PA’s shale industry has blown its projections out of the water.  “At the beginning of 2010, it was projected that Pennsylvania would be producing a billion cubic feet equivalent  per day by the end of 2010, and we saw that it was double that.” (Radio PA, 7/21/11)
• “Pennsylvania Gas Output Exceeds Expectations”: The explosive development of the Marcellus Shale gas formation has exceeded expectations and placed Pennsylvania on track to become the second largest producer in the country in the next few years, according to a new Pennsylvania State University analysis. At the end of 2010 there were nearly 1,500 gas wells in Pennsylvania — where most Marcellus activity has been concentrated to date — producing a combined total of nearly 2 billion cubic feet of gas per day. … Klaber’s organization touted the analysis as proof that the shale drilling boom is likely to benefit local economies, particularly in southwestern Pennsylvania. (Energy Intelligence, 7/20/11)
• “PA soon to be net exporter of natgas: report”: The report’s lead author, Tim Considine, director of the Center for Energy Economics and Public Policy at the University of Wyoming, says his projections are conservative. “The wells in Northeast Pennsylvania are tigers,” Considine tells GBB. (Gas Business Briefing, 7/21/11)
• Pennsylvania Marcellus wells produced an average of 300 million more cubic feet per day of natural gas and petroleum liquids in 2010. … They now estimate the Pennsylvania Marcellus could produce 17.5 billion cubic feet per day by 2020, “which would make the Marcellus the single largest producing gas field in the United States, if real natural gas prices do not fall significantly,” they wrote. … Marcellus Shale Coalition president Kathryn Klaber called the study results “dramatic.” She pointed to sections of the report that link the highest Marcellus production areas in the state to lower than average unemployment and higher than average local tax revenues. “Pennsylvania now is producing more natural gas than it’s consuming,” she said. “These findings underscore the longevity, the sustainability of this resource in Pennsylvania for generations to come.” (Citizens Voice, 7/21/11)
• That 17.5 billion would rank Marcellus Shale as the No. 1 supplier of natural gas in the United States, enough to provide one-fourth of the nation’s natural gas needs. … The report said that, as a result of Marcellus Shale development, natural gas prices in Pennsylvania dropped 12.6 percent in 2010. That decrease resulted in Pennsylvania consumers saving nearly $633 million on utility bills, the report said. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 7/21/11)
• The study found that companies paid about $1.85 billion in lease and royalty payments in 2010. That figure is expected to fall this year to about $1.5 billion, and then rise again in 2012. (Associated Press, 7/20/11)
• The study found that in just five years, the Marcellus has become so profitable that by 2015 Pennsylvania Marcellus drilling could be producing more than 12 billion cubic feet of gas per day, second only to Texas in natural gas production, and transforming Pennsylvania into a major exporter of natural gas. Klaber said the industry is producing more gas with fewer wells and believes it is a direct function of longer laterals giving drillers the ability to reach higher yields. “With those higher yields come higher royalties paid to landowners,” she said. The study forecasts that by 2020 there will be nearly 2,500 wells with an output per day of 17.5 billion cubic feet. If natural gas prices do not fall significantly, the Marcellus will be the single largest producing gas field in the U.S.(Washington Observer-Reporter, 7/21/11)

NOTE: Click HERE to view the study, and HERE for a study fact sheet.

 

Posted at: MarcellusCoalition.org