Wheeling, WV - The Center of the Utica and Marcellus Shale Boom

The Pittsburgh Business Times reported earlier this month that Wheeling, West Virginia is at the "dead center" of the Utica and Marcellus shale boom. The amount of "wet" gas that's being produced in the Northern Panhandle makes it a prime area for an ethane cracker. The gas could stay in the WV region if an ethane cracker is built here. Read the full story here.

OOGEEP Presentation In Cleveland, Ohio

Grubb & Ellis 2012 Real Estate Forecast event held on January 31, 2012 in Cleveland, Ohio.  Rhonda Reda, Managing Director of the Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program (OOGEEP), spoke about the energy industry and the positive effects it will have in Ohio as shale exploration develops in the Utica Marcellus shale region.  Reda noted that the future looks bright for these communities, saying, "The once abandoned steel mills in Youngstown are open again due to the oil and gas markets." OOGEEP had originally predicted that the shale would result in 200,000 jobs for Ohioans by 2015, but jobs are being created faster than OOGEEP predicted. View the entire OOGEEP slide presentation.