With the development of the Marcellus Shale in West Virginia, the number of job opportunities in the natural gas industry has tripled.  Thousands of new jobs have already been created for West Virginians. According to a recent study by West Virginia University, there will be at least 7,000 new West Virginia jobs created due to the impact of the Marcellus Shale development including rig hands, roughnecks, engineers, as well as opportunities for contractors who serve the industry through drilling, pipeline construction, well service, trucking, and oil field service and supply.

According to the Independent Oil and Gas Association of West Virginia:

• Natural gas serves approximately 65 million homes; 5 million businesses including hotels, restaurants, hospitals, schools and supermarkets; 207,000 factories and 1,800 electric generating units.• Natural gas is considered the cleanest fossil fuel because it produces emissions much lower than those of other fossil fuels.• Natural gas currently generates approximately 23 percent of total U.S. electricity.

  • Natural gas is predominately a domestic energy source. In 2010, 99% of the natural gas consumed in the United States was produced in North America.

  • According to the EIA Annual Energy Outlook 2011, the United States possesses 2,543 trillion cubic feet of potential natural gas resources, enough to meet current U.S. consumption for another 100 years.

Source: IOGA West Virginia website – “Industry Facts”