New report updates natural gas and oil-related job figures for Ohio

COLUMBUS — A new report from the Ohio Chamber of Commerce pinpoints the number of natural gas and oil-related jobs at 65,000 by 2014.

That figure differs significantly from previous studies, which ranged from 20,000 to 200,000 jobs; the new study only looked at jobs through 2014, one year less than previous studies.

Last September, a study by Kleinhenz & Associates and prepared for the Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program, claimed that drilling will create 200,000 jobs in Ohio by 2015.

“Both studies clearly show that expanded crude oil and natural gas development has tremendous potential to jump start Ohio’s economy and bring a significant number of job opportunities to workers throughout the state,” said Rhonda Reda, executive director of OGEEP.

Mark Partridge, chairman of the C. William Swank Program in Rural-Urban Policy at Ohio State University, put out a study last December that said the oil and gas industry would only create about 20,000 jobs by 2015.

“We need to be realistic,” Partridge told The Vindicator. “It’s not going to solve all of our problems.”

For the complete story, read Wednesday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com