Safe, job-creating American shale development continues to climb at a “breakneck pace”, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) monthly drilling productivity report released yesterday. And based on EIA’s new data, Reuters reports that our nation’s natural gas production growth is “driven primarily by output from the Marcellus.”

President Obama recently highlighted these important shale-related benefits, stating:

“We are closer to energy independence than we’ve ever been before — or at least as we’ve been in decades. We are importing less foreign oil than we produce for the first time in a very long time. We’ve got a 100-year supply of natural gas that if we responsibly tap puts us in the strongest position when it comes to energy of any industrialized country around the world.”

The President is absolutely right. And this widely-shared goal of strengthened energy security for America and economic opportunity, especially as it relates to boosting our manufacturing based, was on display late last week in Philadelphia. Sponsored by the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, Friday’s event at Drexel University – titled Greater Philadelphia: The Next Energy Hub – brought together business, labor, academia and thought-leaders focused on further leveraging the Commonwealth’s abundant natural gas supplies for the greater Philadelphia economy and its workforce.

Here is what they are saying about the event:

  • “We Have the Feed Stock at our Fingertips to Rebuild Philadelphia”: “Creating an energy hub for greater Philadelphia is really a very important opportunity to be seized,” energy historian Daniel Yergin. … “We need a pipeline with ample expansion capability to span a 110-mile divide.” … Business and big labor groups have lined up behind the campaign, envisioning a construction boom of pipelines, fuel-production facilities, and petrochemical operations, as well as an upturn in associated rail and port traffic. … Yergin said an energy hub would create more than manufacturing jobs at new power plants, petrochemical facilities, or fuel-production plants. The hub would attract engineering, research, technical, and financial employment, too, he said. “You’ve got to really open your minds. You’ve got to look more broadly to see how large the impact will be,” said Yergin. … “When you’re talking about an energy hub, you’re talking about a whole ecosystem that would benefit directly and indirectly.” … “We have the feed stock at our fingertips to rebuild manufacturing that we lost over the last four decades,” said David Spigelmyer, president of the MSC. He said manufacturing is the next natural step in the state’s build-out of the shale-gas industry. … Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. is busy investing billions of dollars to build its Mariner East pipelines to deliver Marcellus natural-gas liquids such as ethane, propane and butane to former refinery sites in Marcus Hook and Westville. (Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/5/14)
  • Greater Philadelphia “The Next Energy Hub”: Pennsylvania is the fastest growing natural gas producing state in the U.S. thanks to the Marcellus Shale formation, one of the most productive natural gas fields in the world. The current daily gross production of natural gas from the Marcellus is in excess of 15 billion cubic feet – and at that level of production the formation has well over a 100 year reserve life. Greater Philadelphia’s refining, chemical and manufacturing sectors are seeing substantial growth due to the ample supply of low cost natural gas making this region the key downstream market. The goal of the Greater Philadelphia Energy Action Team is to establish Philadelphia as the East Coast natural gas Hub in order to stimulate additional regional growth of manufacturing businesses. (Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, 12/5/14)
  • Shale Benefits will “Reverse Trend of Past Decades”: There is another leg to the Philadelphia regional economy that is only starting to receive significant press – energy, which has the potential of even a more significant impact on employment and economic growth. I attended the “Greater Philadelphia: The Next Energy Hub Summit” at Drexel University Dec. 5. I heard industry, labor, government, education and investment leaders speak about the incredible potential of Philadelphia’s close proximity to Marcellus shale natural gas production and the region’s unique infrastructure – oil refineries, pipeline systems, world-class ports, an extensive freight rail network and highly skilled workforce. The benefits of economical Marcellus shale natural gas are already being felt in the Philadelphia region. Over the last decade the cost to heat one’s home with natural gas has significantly declined. … Marcellus shale gas will have a very significant impact on manufacturing in the Philadelphia region. … Economical shale gas will reverse the trend of the past decades, where manufacturing and associated jobs were exported overseas. Manufacturing will return, along with the jobs that were lost. … By the end of this decade, due to new oil and natural gas production methods, the U.S. will become energy self-sufficient. This will have a huge impact on our trade deficit. …This will have a very significant favorable impact on job creation and economic growth. (Philadelphia Business Journal op-ed, 12/8/14)

To read more about American shale development – which has been referred to as “the most wondrous national achievement of the past decade” – please visit the MSC’s blog, follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.