12 Mar Sunoco Report: Pennsylvania Could Get $4.2 Billion Boost From Marcellus Shale

A new report from Sunoco Logistics reveals that the presence of oil and gas production rigs along the Marcellus Shale could pump as much as $4.2 billion in investments into the Pennsylvania state economy.

According to a February 6 Mercury News article, the study found that the two planned phases of the Mariner East pipeline project, which will drill the Marcellus Shale’s rich reserves, will create anywhere from 300 to 400 permanent, full-time surface production jobs, as well as 30,000 temporary construction jobs.

The Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania and West Virginia contains the highest amount of natural gas reserves in the United States. Shale, a fine-grained sedimentary rock, is one of the richest sources of natural gas and petroleum, making the Marcellus Shale a highly-attractive prospect for oil and gas companies.

The Sunoco study estimates that approximately 70,000 barrels of propane and ethane will be transported daily through the Mariner East pipeline, which stretches from the western part of the state to Philadelphia, the Mercury News reports.

Proponents of drilling in the Marcellus Shale have long boasted of its economic potential, especially for rural areas of Pennsylvania that have seen economic decline in recent decades as mining and industrial jobs have moved elsewhere. The Sunoco study largely validates these claims.

“Mariner East is an opportunity for Pennsylvania to make use of our own domestic resources, create thousands of family wage jobs and build our energy future,” said Dennis Martire, vice president and regional manager of the Laborers’ International Union of North America.

Shale drilling won’t just benefit the state of Pennsylvania, either — one 2012 PriceWaterhouseCoopers study predicted that by 2025, natural gas sourced from shale could add as many as 1 million U.S. manufacturing jobs and create countless other jobs in the oil and gas industry, which is currently the world’s largest and most valuable industry.

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