Larry Shields
In his opening remarks during the Youngstown Ohio Utica and Natural Gas Conference and Expo last September, Youngstown Mayor Charles P. Sammarone invited business to the area as the Mahoning Valley experiences its "next big boom."
Joel Mastervich, president and COO of V&M Star, the giant seamless tube maker in Youngstown, said the Utica and Marcellus market was already the fifth largest oil and gas market in the United States.
"Bigger than traditional markets like Barnett (shale basin in Texas) and off shore ... (but) we're in our infancy ... rig count is up" Mastervich said while noting the top five counties in Ohio as Carroll, Columbiana, Jefferson, Harrison and Stark.
And studies predict upwards of 200,000 jobs will to be generated by the shale boom but many people are looking for them now, wondering where they are.
Daniel Alfaro, the communications director for Energy in Depth (EID) the Ohio project, said last week that "development has not really kicked off ..." and explained that the 200,000 jobs are projected over the coming years.
The expected boom in drilling activity won't hit full stride until 2015, Alfaro said and companies and organizations are lining up to get into the best possible position to take advantage of opportunities.
"It will require a sustained, coordinated and perhaps unprecedented effort aimed at explaining the way energy development works who does what, where and how, and what steps will be taken" to develop it, he said.
A recent U.S. Chamber study highlighting that 38,000 jobs have already been created by the industry to date, Alfaro said, adding, "We are only beginning to scratch the surface."