Marcellus Shale Development in Northeast Could Mean $116 Billion in Accumulated Economic Gains for New York Through 2020; Current Restrictions, if Kept in Place, Could Cost the State $ 11.4 Billion

摘要

New York State's de facto moratorium on Marcellus shale production could cost New Yorkers $11.4 billion through 2020, asserted a recent study commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute (API). The study, The Economic Impacts of the Marcellus Shale: Implications for New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, was prepared for API by Timothy Considine of Natural Resource Economics Inc. The report estimated the economic impacts of leasing, exploring, drilling, and developing the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York, and found that for every $1 spent by the Marcellus industry in Pennsylvania - the state with the highest level of activity so far - $1.90 of total gross output or sales is generated. With every $1 million of gross output created by natural gas Marcellus production in the state, 6.2 jobs are created, while 11.4 jobs are created for every $1 million of value added by Marcellus activity. New York, however, has restrictions in place for the use of water in hydraulic fracturing, essentially amounting to a moratorium on horizontal drilling. "These policies impose a cost on the New York State economy that are equal to foregone value-added, jobs, and tax revenues from Marcellus development," Considine advised.