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Erica Bowman and Stephanie Catarino Wissman Press Call On benefits of natural gas study




As prepared for delivery

Benefits of natural gas study press call
June 27, 2017
Erica Bowman
Opening Statement

Good morning, and thank you for taking the time to join today’s call. 

With energy week in full swing around the country to highlight the importance of our nation’s energy resources, API is releasing a new study on the benefits that natural gas brings to American consumers, American workers and the U.S. economy.

This new study, conducted by ICF, examined the economic benefits and opportunities from the entire natural gas value chain including the production of natural gas, its transportation and end uses. A unique feature of this report is that it defines the natural gas value chain as going “all the way through consumption” to include the economic activity from natural gas as a feed stock for other products and useful energy services. 

First, natural gas puts Americans to work. In 2015, natural gas supported more than 4 million jobs across the country from production to end uses from generating the power used to charge your iPhone to manufacturing plastic products and fertilizer. That number is expected to rise to 6 million jobs by 2040 according to the study we are releasing today.

Second. Consumers win with natural gas. It’s estimated that by 2040 consumers across the country will save $100 billion or $655 per household from the increased use of natural gas throughout our economy – from manufacturing to generating affordable electricity.

Third. Increased use of natural gas is helping lower total U.S. carbon emissions to levels not seen in almost 25 years. For carbon emissions from electricity generation, we are at almost 30 year lows. 

What’s more, this study shows that natural gas is already providing great benefits to our nation’s economy in every state, not just energy producing states. In 2015, the natural gas supply chain supported 3 percent of the U.S. economy. This represents all of the direct, indirect and induced activities and jobs associated with natural gas. 

The economic benefits associated with the use of natural gas should not be understated. From the industry’s skilled workforce that produces natural gas, to the restaurants that feed our workers, to pipelines and the workers who build them, to power generation and the homes and businesses that benefit from affordable and reliable electricity, the benefits of natural gas are felt throughout the U.S. economy.

These benefits are not limited to states that produce this abundant resource. With API’s summer of energy campaign, we are highlighting how energy – natural gas and oil - provides benefits to all 50 states and the U.S. economy – from powering the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville to manufacturing fertilizer to make sure we all can enjoy Georgia peaches.

Our study provides a state by state breakdown of the job and economic impacts of natural gas in all 50 states including Pennsylvania which has experienced massive growth in energy production from the state’s abundant energy reserves. I’ll now turn the call over to Stephanie Catarino Wissman, the executive director of API Pennsylvania, who will address the impact of natural gas in Pennsylvania.

Stephanie Catarino Wissman
Opening Statement


Good morning.

Natural gas production and development are part of our way of life here in Pennsylvania. Over the past decade, our state has experienced massive growth in natural gas production due to innovation throughout the energy industry that has allowed us to harness and produce more natural gas. We are now the nation’s second largest producer of natural gas.

This clean-burning energy resource supports almost 180,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs throughout the state and represents roughly 3 percent or $24.5 billion of the state’s economy. These jobs account for the production, transportation and end uses of natural gas like manufacturing and electricity generation.

Companies are beginning to invest in Pennsylvania because of the state’s abundant reserves of natural gas. Shell’s petrochemical plant in Potter Township, about 30 miles Northwest of Pittsburgh, is a $6 billion investment in our state that will support 6,000 jobs during its construction and support countless jobs in the state during its operation. But there is still much to be done. As an example, PA needs more energy infrastructure to get this abundant natural gas to market, and it is then that we will realize Pennsylvania’s full manufacturing potential.

In addition to supporting 3 percent of the state’s total jobs, natural gas has provided affordable and reliable electricity to an equivalent of 5.3 million homes throughout the state. This number has more than tripled over the past decade.

As an energy producing state, natural gas is critical to Pennsylvania’s economy and its workforce. But the benefits of natural gas extend to non energy producing states like New York and Massachusetts that depend on natural gas produced in Pennsylvania to heat and power homes and businesses. As this study confirms, natural gas is providing great benefits to all 50 states. Elected officials at all levels of government should embrace this clean-burning energy resource that is critical to our nation’s jobs and economy. 

With that we’ll open it up to questions.
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