New Study Attaches Real-World Numbers to Real-World Consequences of DeGette/Casey
IHS study finds elimination of hydraulic fracturing could cost 364K jobs in TX, 292K in CA, 250K in PA and NY
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Natural Gas Production Brings Jobs, Growth and Revenue to Northwest Louisiana
Sometimes numbers help put things in perspective. A new report prepared for the Louisiana Natural Resources Department, “Economic Impact of the Haynesville Shale on the Louisiana Economy in 2008,” found that energy development in Northwest Louisiana is having providing some pretty serious economic growth.
The Shreveport Times reports the study found that as a result of those activities:
- About $2.4 billion in business sales have been created in the state;
- Nearly $3.9 billion in household earnings were created, including almost $3.2 billion in lease and royalty payments to private landowners. The figure represents about 70 percent of the total expenditures associated with extraction activity in northwest Louisiana natural gas formation and is mostly in the form of mineral lease and royalty payments.
- About 32,742 jobs were created, equal to slightly more than the total employment of all of Louisiana’s banks and credit unions.
- State and local sales tax revenue increased by at least $153.3 million, with Red River Parish reporting tax collections up 300 percent in the first quarter of this year.
Natural Resources Secretary Scott Angelle said: the “study indicates that the Haynesville Shale may be every bit the game changer for our state that we all hoped it might be…I think we are entering the golden age of natural gas. And Louisiana has the opportunity to take the lead in supplying it and showing the rest of the nation how to make the best use of it.”
The article goes on to say that the Haynesville Shale play has “somewhat insulated the local economy from the national doldrums.”
Other states-New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, to name a few-have vast natural gas resources, just like Louisiana. In the coming years, they have the chance to experience the same benefits of the folks in the Bayou State.
Potential Hydraulic Fracturing Legislation Now Has a Sponsor
Rumors are circling around Washington that an amendment seeking to give EPA authority over the regulation of hydraulic fracturing will soon be added to massive climate change legislation sponsored by Congressman Henry Waxman of California and Ed Markey of Massachusetts. It appears the amendment’s author will be Congresswoman Diana DeGette of Colorado, who sponsored similar legislation in the last Congress (H.R. 7231).
The Colorado Independent reports:
U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette is leading the charge to increase federal oversight of the nation’s natural gas industry, reintroducing a bill that specifically targets a process called hydraulic fracturing.
DeGette and hydraulic fracturing detractors claim the practice harms the environment and is damaging to public health. But Energy in Depth readers (and the EPA) know that’s not the case-and that states already effectively regulate hydraulic fracturing.
The fluids used in the process are more than 95 percent water, and fracturing activities take place thousands of feet below the water table. What’s more, extensive precautions are taken to case wells near the surface to prevent any leakage of fracturing fluid, oil or natural gas.
And while the Independent refers to highlighting the economic consequences of eliminating this safe engineering practice as an industry “tactic,” we’re sure the hundreds of thousands of Americans whose jobs rely on hydraulic fracturing might think differently.
Here are the facts:
- Hydraulic fracturing is responsible for 30 percent of our domestic recoverable oil and natural gas, and has aided in the extraction of more than seven billion barrels of oil and 600 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
- Up to 90 percent of the wells currently operating today have been fraced, and in the future, 60 to 80 percent of new wells may have to undergo fracturing in order to remain viable.
- In 2007, $226 billion was invested in domestic exploration and production. Those investments drive economic growth, support local businesses and keep Americans working. Royalties paid by producers totaled $30 billion in 2007, and billions were paid to federal and local governments in the form of severance and income taxes.
- Hydraulic fracturing accounts for a significant portion of the total economic activity attributable to domestic energy production. More than 300,000 Americans are employed in the exploration and production of domestic oil and natural gas.
What’s more, regulating hydraulic fracturing out of existence would have disastrous economic consequences, including the loss of thousands of jobs, billions in government revenue and the closure of 150,000 natural gas wells.
America can’t afford to unnecessarily curb domestic energy production and destroy jobs-and the DeGette amendment would do just that.
