Since the advent of the Shale Revolution, a number of states have seen increased prosperity as a result of utilizing their natural resources. States like Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio have benefited greatly. Ohio in particular has become a leader in the Shale Revolution based off of access and infrastructure. As Forbes writes:
Thanks to the Utica and even part of Pennsylvania’s Marcellus shale plays, Ohio is now one of our of major natural gas producing states. Despite low prices in the $3.00 range, producers in the Utica have added 10 rigs since early-March to now total 29.
Along with the added rigs, Ohio is also bringing several new pipelines into service that can transport the incredible amounts of natural gas that they’re able to produce. One such project is the Rover Pipeline, which will be able to transport more than 3 billion cubic feet per day to Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Across the country, “the gas market has been excitedly waiting for Rover’s arrival. This is the largest pipeline project since the beginning of the shale boom.”
Access to these great deposits of natural resources “position Ohio as a new petrochemical hub using ethane from cheap natural gas to make the building block chemicals for plastics,” setting the state up to reap the benefits and prosper as a whole. CEPI is excited to see Ohio become such a major player in the natural gas field, and we’re excited to see just how much the state gains.