How Shale Supports the Ohio Economy

The shale oil industry has become a crucial part of Ohio’s economy in the past five years. Following the recession in 2008, many areas fell on hard economic times, Ohio included. However, with the discovery of shale in Ohio, the economy is on the rise again.

The city of Youngstown, Ohio is a microcosm of the shale industry’s impact on the entire state of Ohio. Youngstown is a town of union families, due to its long history with the manufacturing and steel industries and General Motors. Like many other places, the Youngstown economy looked very poor as a result of the 2008 recession. However, that all changed in 2010 when the Great Shale Gas Rush occurred.

When shale was discovered in Ohio, interested parties flocked there, hoping to gobble up shale-rich property. As a result, Ohio was cited in a joint-venture agreement between Gastar Exploration and Atinum Marcellus. The deal was worth approximately $70 million. The large-scale interest in Ohio’s Utica shale supplies was a boon for the Ohio economy.

This large-scale interest not only brought about large amounts of investment in the state, but the necessary labor involved in shale oil extraction also led to the creation of many jobs—jobs which the people of Ohio desperately needed. Ohioans received job training from Ohio unions, which was made available by state and federal funding. Utica shale development has become very important to many areas of Ohio, just like Youngstown. In fact, Youngstown has been dubbed “a city changed by fracking.”

And Ohio isn’t the only state where shale drilling has become a vital part of the economy. In Pennsylvania, for example, shale drilling produces a whopping 20 percent of the entire nation’s natural gas supply.

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