A new report on the economic development opportunities offered by Ohio shale shows that shale development may present new business and job opportunities beyond traditional exploration and production activities, such as drilling and producing new wells.

Additional jobs and economic opportunity may also exist in:

• Midstream oil and gas activities, such as transportation, storage and processing.
• New downstream activities, including use of natural gas in power generation, refining operations and compounding, as well as distribution and conversion of petrochemicals into commercial plastics products.

About the study

The study, conducted in three parts, was prepared collaboratively by the Center for Economic Development and the Energy Policy Center at Cleveland State University’s Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs. Commissioned by the Regional Economic Competitiveness Strategy (RECS) Shale Committee with support from the Economic Growth Foundation and JobsOhio, the report provides economic development professionals, businesses and workforce agencies with a better idea of the opportunities for growth in Ohio’s upstream, midstream and downstream industries related to shale development.

“The intent of the research team is to provide current and transparent data in one place showing the wide range of opportunities that shale hydrocarbons may present to Ohio,” said Iryna V. Lendel, Ph.D., co-author of the report and associate director of the Center for Economic Development at CSU.

Andrew R. Thomas, report co-author and executive-in-residence at CSU’s Energy Policy Center, said the study also suggests that additional benefits could be realized from resources mined in Ohio but deployed regionally.  “Ohio should be more than just an extractive economy in which minerals are taken out of the ground and shipped elsewhere to create wealth,” Thomas said. “There could be opportunities to manufacture products here from local resources, employing a local workforce and building a supply chain here.”

The report is available in its entirety in three parts: Mapping the Opportunities for Shale Development in Ohio, Economics of Utica Shale in Ohio: Supply Chain Analysis and Economics of Utica Shale in Ohio: Workforce Analysis.