OIL & GAS July Oil and Gas News The biggest news in oil and gas came one day before our June 8 Utica Midstream seminar. Royal Dutch Shell announced that it was going ahead with construction of its ethane cracker in Beaver County, Pa. An ethane cracker may be the ultimate downstream development in the Utica. It turns abundant ethane gas into polyethylene. This is a versatile feedstock for the plastics industry. Could plastic manufacturing grow in Ohio because raw materials are being created in the region? Growth is anticipated, to be sure. Despite the many millions of dollars Shell already had spent to acquire and prepare its Beaver County site over the last few years, there was no guarantee that Shell would commit. It is a global energy company that makes its investments in billion-dollar amounts. In fact, the unofficial estimates on the cost of the Shell cracker generally settle in at about $6 billion. Shell Chemical Appalachia, the subsidiary in charge of the cracker plant, predicts 6,000 construction jobs when work begins in about 18 months. It expects 600 permanent employees when the plant begins operation early in the next decade. It anticipates production of 1.6 tons of polyethylene per year.
We thank the sponsors below for supporting our first two oil and gas business development seminars of 2016, Utica Upstream on April 6 and Utica Midstream on June 8.
Meanwhile, Ohio awaits a favorable announcement about the PTT GC cracker that is planned for Belmont County. The company has created a website to share information about its proposed plant: http://pttgcbelmontcountyoh.com. That brings us to Utica Summit on Oct. 11, our annual downstream seminar and the last program in our Utica series for 2016. We are working to attract speakers that can talk about either or both of these cracker projects. We also are seeking commitments from other manufacturers and transportation interests that are finding ways to turn Utica energy into long-term, sustainable jobs for the region.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Chairman of the Board - Brian Belden The Belden Brick Company Sr. Vice Chairman - Judith E. Barnes Lancaster Attorney At Law Vice Chairman - Mark Fleiner MacDermid Performance Solutions Vice Chairman - Rick McQueen Akron-Canton Airport Vice Chairman - Jim Porter The Repository Treasurer - D. William Allen Pro Football Hall of Fame Immediate Past Chairman - William C. Shivers Huntington National Bank President & CEO - Dennis P. Saunier Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce Recording Secretary - Connie R. Cerny Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce
Visit uticasummit.com for program developments, registration, and sponsorship opportunities. At uticasummit.com, you also can view the presentations from the great speakers who came to Canton for Utica Midstream in June. Companies represented were: Spectra Energy, Energy Transfer, Marathon Pipe Line, American Electric Power, Blue Racer Midstream, EnLink Midstream and Midstream Business magazine. Our thanks once again to these companies for coming to Canton and sharing information with regional businesses in the audience.
David Kaminski Vice President for Public Policy and Energy (330) 458-2059 davidk@cantonchamber.org
If you are interested in showing your support for the oil and gas business in Ohio, consider a sponsorship at our last seminar of the year, Utica Summit on Oct. 11. Go to www.uticasummit.com or contact me at the Chamber.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Emil Alecusan Brewster Cheese
Frank Monaco Four Fifteen Group
Katrina Barton Belden Village Mall
Lucia M. Pileggi KeyBank
David Cemate Mercy Medical Center
Steven O. Pittman Bruner Cox LLP
Ajay Das The Timken Company
Rodney Reasonover Stark County Community Action Agency
R. Eric Dellapina FirstMerit Bank N.A. William F. Downey Kenan Advantage Group Dr. Jay Gershen Northeast Ohio Medical University Michael Graeff Dr. Para Jones Stark State College Geoff Karcher The Karcher Group Dr. David A. King Malone University Bradley R. McKain Marathon Petroleum Company, LP Michael Moore FedEx Custom Critical
CANTON REGIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
3
Alan Rodriguez Jßlz by Alan Rodriguez and Rodriguez’s House of Stones Robert E. Roland Day Ketterer, LTD. Denise A. Seachrist Kent State University at Stark Bruce M. Soares Black McCuskey Souers & Arbaugh Amanda Sterling TimkenSteel Tracy Stevens Dominion East Ohio John M. Tucker Krugliak, Wilkins, Griffiths & Dougherty Co., L.P.A. Mark Wright Aultman Health Foundation