Economic

Natural gas generation has been the biggest beneficiary of market share as coal generation declines, but the “principal winners” in the U.S. electricity mix eventually will be wind and solar, according to Raymond James & Associates Inc.

A Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) campus has been selected by the state’s top economic development organization to be a lead partner in developing the business and market opportunities created by the Shell Chemical Appalachia LLC ethane cracker under construction in Beaver County.

Eagle Ford Shale activity bottomed in 2016 and since has turned the corner, as more rigs are raised and activity is escalating, a South Texas economic study is indicating.

The Pittsburgh Regional Alliance (PRA) said this month that it tracked the largest-ever amount of capital investment in the 10-county region surrounding the city in southwestern Pennsylvania last year, attributing most of the $10.2 billion recorded to shale gas-related growth.

The wellhead economics are not that different across the entire U.S. onshore, but how individual producers are digging in has made all the difference, according to a deep dive by BTU Analytics LLC.

Texas upstream oil and natural gas employment ticked up in July for the first time in 19 months, according to the Texas Petro Index (TPI), but not enough to end the severe economic contraction afflicting Texas producers.

In another sign that the oil and gas industry has turned to thoughts of recovery, the Oklahoma Energy Index posted positive gains for the first time since October 2014, Stillwater, OK-based Bank SNB said last week.

California’s grid operator on Tuesday issued a 12-volume, 688-page tome analyzing various scenarios to create a multi-state, regional electricity market that would continue to phase out the use of fossil fuels, including natural gas, for power generation.

Despite challenges ahead, all the pieces are in place to build a robust petrochemical industry in the Appalachian Basin and strengthen the existing chemical manufacturing base in and around the region, speakers at a recent industry conference argued.