New Study: Arkansas benefits from natural gas use

North Little Rock, Ark., June 27, 2017 – The Arkansas Petroleum Council today released a new study on the benefits natural gas brings to the state in terms of consumer savings, family-sustaining jobs and economic growth. The study shows that all 50 states benefit from natural gas produced domestically, including non-producing states.

“Technological advances in natural gas extraction from formations like the Fayetteville Shale in Northcentral Arkansas and continued production from traditional areas like the Arkhoma Basin in the Arkansas River valley, have resulted in reduced prices for natural gas consumers, ample supplies of this clean burning, efficient domestic resource, and CO2 emissions reductions that are at their lowest level in 25 years,” said Executive Director Tom Parker. “Arkansas consumers and the Arkansas economy will continue to benefit from this ‘homegrown’ resource into the foreseeable future.”

The study by ICF International examined the economic benefits and opportunities from the entire natural gas value chain, including the production of natural gas, its transportation and end uses like power generation and manufacturing.

Natural gas benefited Arkansas in 2015 in the following ways:

• Supported 40,546 or 3.4 percent of jobs in the state
• Contributed $5.27 billion to the state’s economy

“From power generation for homes and businesses that benefit from affordable and reliable electricity, to the industry’s skilled workforce that produces natural gas, to pipelines and the workers who build them, the advantages of natural gas are wide-ranging,” said API President and CEO Jack Gerard. “With energy week in full swing, this study is another example of the job and consumer benefits of natural gas across the country.” 

The study found that consumers in all 50 states will save an estimated $655 by 2040 from natural gas production, transportation and other uses such as electricity generation.

Other report highlights on the benefits of natural gas production, its transportation and end uses throughout the value chain include:

• By 2040, consumers across the country will save an estimated $100 billion, or $655 per household, from the increased use of natural gas throughout our economy – from manufacturing to generating affordable electricity.
• In 2015, the natural gas supply chain supported 3 percent of the U.S. economy, including direct, indirect and induced activities and jobs associated with natural gas.
• In 2015, natural gas supported more than 4 million jobs across the country from production to end uses like manufacturing. That number is expected to rise to 6 million jobs by 2040.

The full study containing Arkansas’s state specific information is available on API’s website.

The Arkansas Petroleum Council is a division of API, which represents all segments of America’s oil and natural gas industry. Its more than 625 members produce, process, and distribute most of the nation’s energy. The industry supports 9.8 million U.S. jobs and is backed by a growing grassroots movement of more than 40 million Americans.

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