A new IHS study released yesterday focuses on the job-creating impact associated with the safe development of unconventional oil and natural gas in the United States. According the researchers, this tightly-regulated production supports more than 1.7 million U.S. jobs today, with that amount growing to a projected 3 million jobs by the end of the decade. The report –  supported by American Petroleum Institute, Institute for 21st Century Energy, the American Chemistry Council, and Natural Gas Supply Association – is available in full here.

Here are key highlights from the study, “America’s New Energy Future: The Unconventional Oil and Gas Revolution and the Economy”:

  • Nearly $5.1 trillion in capital expenditures ($2.1 trillion in the oil sector, $3 trillion in the gas sector) will take place between 2012 and 2035 across the entire upstream unconventional oil and gas activity sectors.
  • Employment in the entire upstream unconventional oil and gas sector on a direct, indirect, and induced basis will support nearly 1.8 million jobs in 2012, 2.5 million jobs in 2015, 3 million jobs in 2020, and nearly 3.5 million jobs in 2035.
  • The jobs created tend to be high quality and high paying, given the technologically innovative nature of unconventional oil and gas activity. Workers associated with unconventional oil and gas are currently paid an average of $35.15 per hour—higher than the wages in the general economy ($23.07 per hour) and more than wages paid in manufacturing, wholesale trade and education, among others.
  • Unconventional energy activity will contribute $237 billion in value added contributions to GDP in 2012, a figure that will increase to $475 billion annually in 2035.
  • Unconventional oil and gas activity will generate more than $61 billion in federal and state government revenues in 2012 and increase to $91 billion in 2015 and $111 billion in 2020. By the last year of the forecast period, in 2035, government revenues will increase to more than $124 billion.

And in the Wall Street Journal, renowned energy expert and author, Daniel Yergin, writes this about the overwhelmingly clear benefits associated with the safe development of clean-burning American natural gas:

The number of jobs could rise to three million by 2020. The energy revolution will add an estimated $62 billion to federal and state revenues this year. … The growth of shale gas will save the U.S. from spending $100 billion a year on imported LNG, which was the likely prospect five years ago.

Domestically, growing natural gas supplies provide a foundation for a manufacturing renaissance, at least for industries for which energy is an important feedstock or where energy costs are significant. Chemical companies have been leaving the U.S. for years in the search for lower-cost countries in which to operate. Now they are planning to invest billions of dollars in new factories in this country because of inexpensive and relatively stable natural gas prices.

The rapid growth of oil and natural gas production represents a major opportunity for the U.S. Without these energy resources, the disappointing economic picture would look worse, and so would the jobs numbers. Instead, the energy revolution is helping revitalize the economy and make the U.S. more competitive in the global marketplace.

Have questions about how natural gas is produced from the Marcellus Shale and ultimately how this clean-burning, abundant American resource is powering our economy, including our manufacturing sector? Visit LearnAboutShale.org and join the online conversation using #LearnAboutShale. And don’t forget to watch and share this video, Powering an American Renaissance.