Study: Marcellus Shale - Enormous Economic, Energy Potential

Jane Van Ryan
Posted May 26, 2010

A new Penn State study says the development of clean-burning natural gas in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale formation could create 212,000 new jobs during the next 10 years and generate more than $1.8 billion in state and local tax revenues during the next 18 months.

These are among the key findings released this week in an update to Penn State's initial jobs and economic impact study issued last July.

The study's authors say that increased exploration activities during the next decade are expected to bring online an additional 13.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day--nearly seven times the amount that Pennsylvanians currently use on a daily basis.

The authors also suggest that in the long term, Marcellus could "be the second largest natural gas field in the world" if fully developed--providing an amount of energy for the American consumer "equivalent to the energy content of 87 billion barrels of oil."

As the government forecasts project, energy demand and consumption will increase in the future. Natural gas supplies from the Marcellus Shale and other similar formations can help meet this future demand and improve U.S. energy security.

For more information, you can access the full study on the Marcellus Shale Coalition website.