Thursday, May 22, 2014
By Kalea Hall
YOUNGSTOWN
The future of both the oil and gas industry and the Valley look bright.
That’s what some Youngstown State University alumni, students, faculty and others concluded from a panel discussion on the economic opportunities in Ohio’s Utica and Marcellus Shale formation with guest speakers Sarah Boyarko, vice president of economic development for the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, and Shawn Bennett, director of Energy in Depth.
The Wednesday discussion was the first master’s of business administration professional development and networking reception at the Williamson College of Business Administration at YSU.
“You have a lot of companies moving here and [you] see a lot of investment moving here because there is infrastructure and an available workforce,” Bennett said.
Boyarko noted that the 2013 investment in the Valley, as noted by the chamber, is more than $574 million, with 399 new jobs created, 762 jobs retained and more than $12 million in new payroll. Of these, about 30 percent are related to energy and gas; the rest are in a variety of industries, she said.
Pending projects, according to the chamber, are expected to invest $980 million more in the Valley, create 506 new jobs, $17 million in payroll and retain 1,531 jobs.
Since January, the chamber has brought in seven out-of-state companies to tour available properties in the Valley, according to the chamber’s May newsletter.
“They want to be introduced,” Boyarko said. “They want to be welcomed to the community.”
This goes for all companies, Boyarko said, but she has noticed a high level of interest in the communities from energy companies.
“Our job is to market the community,” Boyarko said.
The Brilex-Valerus joint venture that opened on Andrews Avenue in Youngstown last year was a $1.5 million investment to supply oil and gas production equipment to operators in the Utica and Marcellus Shale formations in Youngstown and Pennsylvania. Exterran also opened last year with a $13.2 million investment in a facility on Salt Springs Road that created 103 new jobs. Those were among the companies Boyarko mentioned as part of the chamber’s efforts to attract, retain and help companies expand in the Valley.
Bennett focused his discussion on understanding the current situation in the shale plays. There are 1,272 drill permits in the Utica Shale, with 875 drilled, and 43 permitted in Marcellus, with 27 drilled.
“We are really in the exploration phase,” Bennett said. “Carroll County is the leader and will remain that for awhile.”
Noting that in 2012, 225 wells were drilled, and in 2013, 661 were drilled, he said this year, 1,180 are expected to be drilled.
“Once we make this into an oil play, you will see even more investment in the state and in this county,” Bennett said. “Everything we use, we don’t think about it, but it comes from oil and natural gas. We need to think of the encompassing things it does for us.”