Shell plant shows region’s potential
To the editor:
Last week, Shell announced operations have begun at its $6 billion dollar cracker plant along the Ohio River in Monaca, a first-of-its-kind facility in the Northeast. The investment is a prime example of the growth and advancement happening in this region using local workers and resources.
Eastern Ohio, the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia and Western Pennsylvania are quickly becoming an obvious place for folks to do business. Not only does the region have proximity advantages, being within a 700-mile radius to 70 percent of the U.S. polyethylene market, but it has the power needed for large scale facilities. The Ohio Valley holds large reserves of natural gas that can be easily transported and utilized by this incredible investment.
This chemical project is designed to produce 3.5 billion pounds a year of polyethylene, used in consumer products but, possibly more important to the area isn’t what they will make but what it will be made of. Shell says this facility is strategically placed in the Appalachian Basin, where the facility will contract most of its natural gas from the Utica and Marcellus basin. This is just another example of Ohio’s natural resources being used to bring investment and power to our nation.
Natural gas isn’t the only resource that will be used to power this plant — that will include the people. Thousands of skilled laborers have already worked tirelessly to make this plant a reality, and 600 jobs will be needed to support the facility. The Allegheny Conference on Community Development CEO Stefani Pashman said she expects to see job growth of up to 11,000 indirect and induced jobs.
If you have spent time in the Ohio Valley, you know how much this area has to offer its citizens and the nation. It’s clear that companies are beginning to see the immense potential of the region as well as the natural resources that are buried beneath it. This cracker plant signals to the nation that investment in natural gas is the future.
George Brown
Executive director
The Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program
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