Ohio Boasts 39,000 Shale Jobs

A recently released report shows that the state of Ohio has 39,000 with a link to shale oil and gas production in 2012. That number is expected to triple by the end of the decade, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

In Ohio in 2012, shale oil and gas accounts for $4.1 billion of the value of goods and services produced in the state. That number is expected to hit $18 billion in 2020 and then $35 billion in 2035, the report from IHS Global Insight said. The report released was a national report.

“The unconventional oil and gas revolution is having a bigger impact across the country, including in nonproducing states, than is generally recognized,” said Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of IHS, in a statement. “What we found is that the economic and financial links reach out across all the states in our highly-interconnected national economy.”

Groups in support of shale drilling financed the report. Some of those groups include America’s Natural Gas Alliance and the American Petroleum Institute. Over 500 permits have been approved by the state that permit the drilling of horizontal wells in the Marcellus and Utica shall formations, as reported by the state’s Department of Natural Resources.

Out of the top 10 states in the country for production related to shale oil and gas, Ohio hits the rank at number nine. The group is led by Texas and then Pennsylvania. The top 10 grouping will provide 1.2 million jobs and $178 billion to their state economies in 2012.

The 39,000 jobs in the industry come in at a little more than half of one percent of Ohio’s current total employment force. The study said that shale jobs will reach 144,000 by 2020 and then hit 267,000 by 2035.

Daniel Meges is an economist at Chmura Economics & Analytics in Cleveland. Meges said, “Ultimately employment depends on drilling,” he said. “Nobody gets employed unless they are drilling wells. They are not going to drill too much if the price of gas is too low.”

A report was also released by Meges’ firm and it stated that Ohio had just 25,000 jobs in the shale oil and gas industry as of 2011. “If you add in the lawyers that are running around southwestern Ohio right now and you throw in some engineering consulting, you could get some big numbers,” he said.

The largest employers in the industry within Ohio are in support services, administrative, manufacturing, scientific and technical services. The report also took a look at the 32 states in the country that do not have drilling activities and how drilling would affect those economies.