Shale Boom Supports 450,000 Jobs

America’s shale energy revolution is creating and sustaining hundreds of thousands of jobs in diverse sectors of the economy that supply construction, equipment, supplies and services to shale energy operations, and making the U.S. manufacturing sector more competitive.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – America’s shale energy revolution is creating and sustaining hundreds of thousands of jobs in diverse sectors of the economy that supply construction, equipment, supplies and services to shale energy operations, and making the U.S. manufacturing sector more competitive by reducing energy input costs, Energy Equipment & Infrastructure Alliance (EEIA) President & CEO Toby Mack told Congress. 

Testifying at a House Energy and Mineral Resoures Subcommittee hearing, Mack said the shale supply chain is booming and has created more than 450,000 jobs since the energy revolution began less than a decade ago.  New research conducted by IHS Global for EEIA indicates that this boom will generate consistently rapid growth over the next decade. By 2025, nearly 300,000 new jobs will be created, for a 64 percent increase over 2012 employment in the diverse shale supply chain industries.

This continued growth will impact all sectors of the shale energy supply chain. Jobs will be added in businesses engaged in manufacturing, construction, logistics and services supporting energy operations, and will be dispersed across the country. The economic and employment benefits of shale oil and gas development extend well beyond those states with major shale plays: the preliminary IHS Global findings indicate that by 2025 better than one out of every seven jobs in the supply chain industries – more than 126,000 in all – will be in non-energy producing states.

Mack concluded his remarks by reminding the subcommittee the shale energy supply chain is a major contributor to the U.S. economy and its nationwide outlook is strong for the foreseeable future. However, he cautioned that government action restricting shale energy production would undermine the vitality of the entire sector. “Policymakers must protect public health, safety and the environment while pursuing policies that allow the shale energy sector to grow and prosper,” Mack said.

Mack’s complete statement is available at http://www.eeia.org/testimony.pdf

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