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.