Published: August 22, 2007 11:03 pm      

Natural gas bullish about its future

West Virginia needs jobs and the nation needs energy. The natural gas industry believes it has the solution to both needs.

“We are going to need thousands of new workers in the industry,” said Lloyd Jackson, president of Energize West Virginia. “Natural gas will help to meet the world’s energy needs for decades to come.”

Jackson, a former state senator and gubernatorial candidate, made the remarks at a news conference Wednesday in Beckley where the oil and gas industry announced its three-year campaign, known as Energize West Virginia, to publicize the benefits of natural gas production.

For more than 100 years, Jackson’s family has worked in the state’s oil and gas industry. Now he feels it is time to tell the industry’s story better than his ancestors did.

Energize West Virginia has undertaken the effort in earnest by placing 40 billboards throughout the state, bearing the words “Natural Gas: Fueling our Future with 15,000 West Virginia jobs.”

Jackson said the natural gas industry has contributed $1 billion to the state’s economy and paid tens of millions of dollars in state and local taxes.

While recent efforts nationwide have focused on reducing carbon emissions believed to contribute to global warming, natural gas proponents have praised the energy source for being gentle on the environment.

“Natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel and is the least environmentally obtrusive of any natural resource extracted,” according to Energy West Virginia literature.

Technology is now available to drill down a single shaft and then branch out horizontally, allowing crews to extract natural gas from a vast area with minimal surface disturbance. And technology is making it possible for companies to draw natural gas from deeper underground reserves.

“There is a misconception that natural gas is about to run out,” said Nicholas DeMarco, executive director of the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association.

DeMarco said West Virginia is the fourth-largest natural gas producer in the nation and “is poised to become the leading gas producing state east of the Mississippi,” with the largest natural gas reserves in the Appalachian Basin.

And much of this production is in southern West Virginia. Of the 49 counties in the state that produce natural gas, DeMarco said, Wyoming County has produced the most over the past three years.

Of the 3,000 new industry jobs expected over the next five years, Jackson estimated 1,000 would be needed in the southern part of the state.

Representatives from natural gas companies statewide report a growing number of gas wells and a growing workforce.

But many industry executives at Wednesday’s news conference described one seemingly unlikely obstacle to industry growth — a shortage of job applicants.

“It’s very hard to find entry level workers,” said Jackson. “Entry level jobs in our industry pay over $40,000 a year.”

“There are jobs available in this industry if you are willing to work,” Ryan Rodgers of Schlumberger Oilfield Services said. Rodgers explained that opportunities exist for upwardly mobile employees.

“If you can stick it out the first two to three years, you can move on to another operation,” he said. “This industry is wide open.”

Jim Pritt, treasurer of Energize West Virginia, said job applicants should know the work is challenging, but that it offers job security.

“It’s hard work. Let’s not kid ourselves,” Pritt said. “But that well can’t be shipped or moved to other countries,” referring to the recent loss of thousands of American jobs to countries that offer cheaper labor.

One of the goals of Energize West Virginia is to encourage young people to take an interest in the industry and get the necessary training or degrees.

“We need employees at all levels,” said Jackson. “Some of the jobs we can’t train for overnight, and we will help people get the training, but we need them to be interested.”

For more information on Energize West Virginia or career opportunities in the natural gas industry, visit www.energizewv.com.

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bbilleter@register-herald.com