API: Shale Development Creating New Jobs (USA)

Development of America’s shale industry in recent years is one reason the U.S. oil and natural gas industry has been able to create 100,000 jobs since the recession began, said API´s Chief Economist John Felmy.

This job creation came at a time when non-farm jobs across the country are down by about 5 million, Felmy said, adding that the growth in shale oil and natural gas was made possible by the technological advancements in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, he added.

“It was these technological achievements that led to what is known as the ‘North Dakota Miracle,’ which has transformed that state into our nation’s No. 2 oil producer, reduced unemployment to 3 percent and driven incomes up sharply,” he said.

Felmy outlined the many steps the industry has taken to ensure that development is done safely and responsibly but warned against “unnecessary or duplicative regulations that could impede the very investments we need to create jobs, grow the economy and secure our energy future.”

Polls have repeatedly shown that Americans support greater domestic energy production because they know that doing so could lead to more jobs, greater U.S. energy security and fewer imports, he said, adding that policymakers are recognizing both the benefits of shale energy and the tremendous steps the industry and state regulators have taken to ensure that it is developed safely and responsibly.

Felmy urged New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to allow his state to “join the growing list of states reaping the benefits of developing energy from shale.”

API is a national trade association that represents all segments of America’s technology-driven oil and natural gas industry. Its more than 500 members – including large integrated companies, exploration and production, refining, marketing, pipeline, and marine businesses, and service and supply firms – provide most of the nation’s energy.

The industry also supports 9.2 million U.S. jobs and 7.7 percent of the U.S. economy, delivers $86 million a day in revenue to our government, and, since 2000, has invested over $2 trillion in U.S. capital projects to advance all forms of energy, including alternatives.

[mappress]
LNG World News Staff, October 05, 2012