Thursday, August 09, 2012

Pittsburgh and Ohio Rebound With Shale Gas

1. Pittsburgh Rebound -- "Pittsburgh, once known as America’s Steel City, is laying its Rustbelt heritage to rest by fostering growth in education and health services, while drawing strength from the booming natural-gas industry it keeps at a distance. 

Drilling into Marcellus shale deposits is banned in Pittsburgh, yet hydraulic-fracturing, or fracking, operations in the countryside nearby have helped bring in jobs and boost demand for office space in Pennsylvania’s second-biggest city.

New methods of extracting natural gas and oil are boosting the economies of states from Pennsylvania to North Dakota and Texas. Unconventional gas production alone is forecast to spur almost $3.2 trillion in new investment by 2035 and support more than 2.4 million jobs in the lower 48 U.S. states, according to an HIS Inc. study released in June. It projected a 14 percent annual compound-growth rate in Pennsylvania jobs tied to gas." 

2. Ohio Rebound -- "Today, Ohio once again has the opportunity to become an economic power, creating the jobs and economic revitalization that goes along with having reliable, more affordable energy. And once again, the solution lies right beneath our feet in the vast domestic shale formations that hold immense reserves of oil and natural gas. 

The good news is that in Ohio, policies and actions are already encouraging and supporting shale energy development, opening access to new lands and adopting stringent regulatory controls to address potential environmental and public health and safety concerns. As a result, shale energy is expected to contribute 65,000 jobs, with an average salary of $50,225 per job, and more than $4.8 billion to Ohio’s economy by 2014. Nationally, shale energy contributed 600,000 jobs and more than $76 billion to U.S. GDP in 2010 alone.

Here in Ohio, evidence of the potential for this shale-driven economic engine abound. The domestic steel industry, particularly in Youngstown, Canton and the Mahoning Valley, is enjoying its first growth boom since the 1980s, driven largely by the demands of oil and gas producers who need pipe, drilling platforms, heavy equipment and specialty tools. Last year shale development helped to create 2,275 new Ohio jobs and increased Ohio’s gross domestic product by $162 million. And that growth is, in turn, causing an increase in consumer confidence — people are buying cars again, which further increases the demand for steel and increases employment in Ohio.

For the first time in more than 100 years, Ohio has the chance to once again be a leader in the production of oil and gas. Shale energy provides the state a unique opportunity to build on its history to ensure a strong economic future, ensuring more affordable energy while helping to increase our nation’s energy security."

5 Comments:

At 8/09/2012 10:50 PM, Blogger gadfly said...

The Northern Panhandle of West Virginia is full-up with pipeliners, drillers and a new LNG plant is being built along the Ohio River at Natrium in Marshall County. Many of the new wells in southern and central WV are classified as "dry" gas which is not good when the price is falling toward $2 per million cu ft. Along the Ohio River, however the gas is "wet", meaning high petroleum content, which means the drillers can fare OK with the present price of crude oil.

 
At 8/09/2012 11:41 PM, Blogger Benjamin Cole said...

The low prices for natural gas are having another positive effect: Lots of research into how to get even better at fracking.

Add that to the fact that perfectly nice automobiles that get 40 mpg and even 50 mpg are on the market.

Methanol? LPG or CNG (common in Thailand, btw).

Peak Oil is for people who do not understand free enterprise and the price signal.

Ethanol likewise.

 
At 8/09/2012 11:51 PM, Blogger Benjamin Cole said...

Interesting that the AEI likes Market Monetarism, at least one fellow.

The AEI Turns Market Monetarist
Or at least James Pethokoukis of the AEI does. He has been blogging like a Market Monetarist of late. Here he makes the case the Fed caused the Great Recession, not the housing bust or oil shock. Here James is considering whether it is time for the Fed to launch a pro-growth monetary policy. Finally, he pushes the argument here that the Eurozone crisis is a nominal GDP crisis, not a debt crisis. This is encouraging since most of the right-of-center think tanks have been overrun by the gold bug.

 
At 8/10/2012 4:04 AM, Blogger Benjamin Cole said...

It is fashionable on tho space to bash electric vehicles, but according to McKinsey, lithium batteries should cost a lot less in just a few years...they will probably be a bit better too.

The oil industry may find it cannot give their main product, also known as the "devil's diarrhea."

--30--



"While you may think no dramatic reduction in the cost of batteries is possible within the next 10 years, you’d be wron, according to McKinsey Quarterly, who have done a study on the matter. Their conclusion is that the price of batteries, and more specifically the lithium-ion variety, will get a considerable reduction in price, within the next 8 years.

According to the study, the price could fall from $500-$600 per kWh, to as little as $200 by 2020, and, even lower by 2025, at $160. This means that their price would drop three times - this should spur on the EV industry, more than anything else. Now, since the very high battery costs are not allowing manufacturers to sell their EVs with a competitive price tag, the drop in battery costs will definitely give the industry a much-needed boost.

We hope the information is accurate, because if it is, EVs will finally be allowed to take over from their oil-buring counterparts, matching (and surpassing) them not only on performance and economy, but, hopefully, even on pr."

 
At 8/10/2012 7:40 AM, Blogger Itchy said...

It is fashionable on tho space to bash electric vehicles, but according to McKinsey, lithium batteries should cost a lot less in just a few years...they will probably be a bit better too.

It's fashionable to bash them because GM needs a $7500 tax credit (available only to high income earners not the "middle class") to sell it at a price that is still more than $10K higher than a 50mpg Prius.

Now, since the very high battery costs are not allowing manufacturers to sell their EVs with a competitive price tag, the drop in battery costs will definitely give the industry a much-needed boost.

We hope the information is accurate, because if it is, EVs will finally be allowed to take over from their oil-buring counterparts, matching (and surpassing) them not only on performance and economy, but, hopefully, even on pr."


So basically let the market work ?

 

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