Investments and Jobs – Energy is Generating Both
Mark Green
Posted March 18, 2014
A few of the new good-news stories resulting from America’s oil and natural gas revolution:
Investing in Ohio Production …
The state’s geologist says Utica shale development has triggered $20 billion to $24 billion in spending investments and more will come, reports the Akron Beacon Journal’s online edition. The newspaper cites an unreleased report by Ohio state geologist Mike McCormac that says drilling companies have spent about $6 billion on drilling plus approximately $2 billion on leases. Investments in processing plants and pipelines are estimated at $12 billion to $16 billion.
The report projects that more than 19,000 new wells will be drilled in the Utica play over the next two decades, which indicates the economic benefits of shale production will have long-term impact for Ohio (Left, the Beacon Journal’s map plotting producing and drilled wells and planned wells).
… and in the Eagle Ford
A new report estimates oil and natural gas companies will spend between $23 billion and $30 billion in the South Texas shale play this year, the San Antonio Express-News reports in its online edition. The newspaper:
A new report from research and consulting company GlobalData calls the Eagle Ford “an even larger resource than initially thought” and says the industry remains enamored of the field, which has emerged as one of the country's hot spots for crude oil production. The report pegs 2014 spending at $30 billion as companies do everything from drilling wells to building pipelines and processing plants.
The newspaper reports that a separate study by Wood Mackenzie estimates that between 2012 and 2015 industry’s total Eagle Ford investment would total more than $116 billion. Still another study captures shale’s economic impact in South Texas:
Development of the play is paying huge dividends for the region. A study conducted by the University of Texas at San Antonioestimated that in 2012, the Eagle Ford Shale had a $61 billion impact and supported 116,000 jobs across a 20-county swath of South Texas.
Jobs – North Dakota Has ‘Em
The Associated Press reports that the home of surging Bakken Shale oil and natural gas production has sort of a happy problem: More jobs than workers to fill them.
North Dakota’s 2.6 jobless rate, the lowest in the U.S., amounts to full employment. Driving this is energy development that has seen the state climb from being the nation’s ninth-biggest oil producer in 2006 to second, trailing only Texas. AP:
The state's unprecedented oil bonanza has made it the economic darling of the nation — boasting a sturdy economy, a state government budget surplus, and its highest population ever, as swarms of people have migrated to North Dakota. But it hasn't been enough, officials say, citing some 25,000 more jobs than takers in all industries in the state. Hoping to woo workers to fill those jobs, Lt. Gov. Drew Wrigley and the North Dakota Economic Development Foundation on Monday unveiled a "Find the Good Life in North Dakota" campaign at the state Capitol in Bismarck. "These are exciting times in our state," said Wrigley, who called the lack of an adequate workforce one of "the challenges of prosperity."
The oil and natural gas industry is glad to be a job creator, an investor and a positive, economic driver. Our vast reserves of shale and other energy-bearing tight-rock formations, safely and responsible unlocked with advanced hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, is helping create opportunity for millions of Americans, every day.
With the pro-development policies and visionary leadership, America’s energy renaissance will help write many more good-news stories in the months and years to come.
About The Author
Mark Green joined API after a career in newspaper journalism, including 16 years as national editorial writer for The Oklahoman in the paper’s Washington bureau. Previously, Mark was a reporter, copy editor and sports editor at an assortment of newspapers. He earned his journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma and master’s in journalism and public affairs from American University. He and his wife Pamela have two grown children and six grandchildren.