November 21, 2017

Natural Gas and Oil Industry Improves Ohio Infrastructure

While the economic benefits of the oil and natural gas industry have been well documented, the impacts on other aspects of communities have gone somewhat overlooked. Six counties in Ohio received $43 million in property taxes from oil and natural gas properties between 2010 and 2015, and those same six counties are expected to receive $200 to $250 million over the next ten years, according to The Ohio Oil and Gas Association and Energy In Depth.

The benefits of natural gas extend beyond just property taxes, though, as Columbiana County Engineer Bert Dawson notes,

“Besides being an economic boom for eastern Ohio, the recent oil and gas activity has fostered millions of dollars of road improvements that have been much needed but unaffordable to cost strapped local government.”

In fact, the oil and natural gas industries have contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to roads and bridges in several Ohio counties. As The Ohio Oil and Gas Association and Energy In Depth recently found,

“In total, the upstream oil and natural gas industry has directly contributed over $300 million from 2011-2017 in maintaining and improving roads and bridges in eight Ohio counties, at no cost to the taxpayer.”

Of that $300 million, one hundred percent of all the investments went directly to local communities, helping to improve 630 miles of local roads. As oil and natural gas companies move through communities, they not only create jobs and wealth, but improve towns along the way. Continuing to expand our natural gas and oil infrastructure will only spread these benefits further, and improve lives in the process.