Environmental issues came to the forefront at Shale Insight through panels and vendor booths.

Beth Powell, New Pig Energy vice president and general manager, spoke with The Stream at the vendor booths about the company’s secondary containment system.

The system protects the environment in case of a spill, so “if anything goes wrong, it stays on the surface. It doesn’t hit the soil or the waterways.”

 

 

 

A panel discussion about endangered species included officials from the public and private sectors. Randy Wilgis, executive vice president of strategic solutions for Resource Environmental Solutions, discussed the importance of making conservation cost-effective but impactful.

“Meaningful conservation outcomes enhance a company’s social license to operate,” he said.

Pam Shellenberger, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said the agency is conducting a 12-month assessment on pollinator species, such as the yellow-banded bumblebee and monarch butterfly. She also highlighted efforts to protect bat habitats.

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A 2016 study found that of the executive board members at top 200 power and utility companies, only 5 percent were women.

The Women’s Energy Network (WEN) seeks to change that.

“A lot of women don’t know they have the opportunity and have the available jobs in the industry,” said Katie Smith, recruiting specialist at Halliburton who also serves as WEN Appalachia vice president. “So getting that knowledge out there … is a great opportunity.”

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What does Dr. Kesavalu Bagawandoss find most impressive about the Marcellus Shale players?

“The groups are very coherent,” Bagawandoss, the Nashville, Tenn., laboratory director for the oil and gas lab TestAmerica, told The Stream during Shale Insight. “It’s the most inclusive group. … Everybody knows if there’s an issue.”

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A lot happened during the second and final day of Shale Insight, so you understandably might have missed something. Check out this video recap from The Stream for all the highlights: 

What’s the next step for Pennsylvania’s energy infrastructure?

Denise Brinley, senior energy adviser with the Pa. Department of Community and Economic Development, says that her department would like to see expanded opportunities to utilize natural gas in Pennsylvania for heating homes and businesses, fueling vehicles and much more.

“We want to see them deliver natural gas off those pipelines into local distribution lines and into our communities,” Brinley told The Stream during Shale Insight.

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American natural gas development strengthens the economy and national security, former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told Shale Insight attendees today.

Spicer, the keynote speaker at the conference in Pittsburgh, said natural gas is “good for manufacturing. It’s good for jobs. It’s a no-brainer.”

A sound and smart energy policy improves jobs and the environment, while increasing the nation’s global standing, Spicer said.

“Being energy dominant is not just good foreign policy; it’s good domestic policy,” Spicer said.

When it comes to government regulations, Spicer said, agencies have to “be smart” and ensure rules “don’t stifle the American worker.”

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The shale revolution has been one of the most exciting regional energy developments of the past 50 years. Accessing the vast new supplies of natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs) from previously untapped deposits has created a decisive competitive advantage for Pennsylvania chemical and plastics manufacturers. The next step is attracting more petrochemical companies to Pennsylvania to spur greater investment, industry growth and job creation.

The perfect place for these companies to locate is the Appalachian region, specifically western Pennsylvania. This area is an ideal location for a second major petrochemical manufacturing hub in the United States, thanks to its proximity to upstream and midstream sources. By attracting more petrochemical companies, Pennsylvania can leverage more of the natural gas stream for value-added manufacturing.

In addition, a recent economic report released by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) shows that the Appalachian region could become a second center of U.S. petrochemical and plastic resin manufacturing, similar to the Gulf Coast. ACC’s report presents a hypothetical scenario that includes the development of a storage hub for natural gas liquids and chemicals (such as ethylene and propylene), a 500-mile pipeline distribution network and associated energy infrastructure and manufacturing in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kentucky.

The economic benefits could be substantial. By 2025, the four-state region could see 100,000 permanent new jobs, including 25,700 chemical and plastic products manufacturing jobs, 43,000 jobs in supplier industries and 32,000 “payroll-induced” jobs in communities where workers spend their wages, according to the report. The new investment could lead to $2.9 billion in new federal, state and local tax revenue annually.

To accomplish this, we need support from our elected officials. By offering incentives to downstream chemical and plastics manufacturing companies, Pennsylvania can make an even bigger impact in the shale world. This is a long-term, impactful play that will bring in companies that turn ethane feedstocks into end-use products. These companies will provide high-paying, sustainable jobs for tax-paying Pennsylvanians.

Shell Chemical Appalachia’s ethane cracker plant in Beaver County will ensure that a manufacturing resurgence occurs in western Pennsylvania, a state lawmaker told Shale Insight attendees this morning.

Pennsylvania state Rep. Jim Christiana told the crowd in Pittsburgh that the multibillion-dollar plant is the largest private investment in the state since World War II.

“As a kid who grew up in Beaver County, I’m proud it will be home to Shell’s cracker plant,” Christiana said.

“Make no mistake,” he added. “The supply of ethane will be a strong catalyst to making sure the manufacturing resurgence happens here.”

Christiana’s remarks came before a panel on the cracker plant, which is expected to open in the early 2020s and create 600 permanent jobs, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Jim Sewell, environmental manager for Shell Chemical Appalachia, said the plant will have its own safety team and be fully staffed at all times.

David Ruppersberger, president of the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, said he expects the plant to result in “other plastic users” locating in western Pennsylvania.

“The dichotomy right now is between where plastics manufacturers are and where the polyethylene is,” Ruppersberger said. “Moving that raw material closer to the manufacturers has a definite economic advantage.”

Michael Marr, business integration lead for Shell Appalachia, agreed. “The proximity to the Marcellus Shale and ethane resources was a key factor” in locating the plant in Pennsylvania, Marr said.

“It all starts with ethane — it’s the most efficient feedstock,” said Todd Whittemore, Shell Global Solutions U.S. global technology manager for polyethylene.

This will be the first time since the 1960s that Shell has built a new plant in the United States, Whittemore noted.

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In any natural gas project, safety is paramount.

That’s why Pittsburgh-based Civil & Environmental Consultants Inc. uses drones for topography and engineering drawings. The footage and data that are gathered help the companies better understand the project’s physical landscape.

“We try to put these in areas that might be unsafe to send a man in to survey,” Rob Sinclair, CEC’s corporate CADD technology manager, told The Stream at Shale Insight.

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Natural gas is helping eliminate energy poverty nationally and globally, according to remarks made this morning at Shale Insight.

“The gas we’re developing right here in the Appalachian basin is leading to lower energy prices for consumers across the country,” said Sarah Battisti (pictured above), Southwestern Energy vice president of government and community affairs.

Stanford Natural Gas Initiative’s managing director Bradley Ritts also discussed the problem of access to energy, telling the crowd that reliable electricity is not available to 1.2 billion people globally.

“Clearly, there’s a gap between energy access in the developing world and the resources that we have,” Ritts said.

Three billion people worldwide use biomass for cooking fuel, Ritts said, because “they do not have access to other sources of cooking fuel and home heating.”

This use of biomass has led to deforestation, air pollution, smoke and particulate matter indoors, and health issues, Ritts noted.

“Is limited energy access the cause of poverty or the result of poverty?” Ritts asked.

As the U.S. promotes natural gas globally, developing countries will be afforded immediate greenhouse gas reductions and additional air quality benefits due to decreased coal dependence, Ritts said.

“The growth of [liquefied natural gas] supply has led to lower global prices, enabling more countries to become importers, making energy access affordable,” Ritts said.

Maribeth Anderson, West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association director and board president, told Shale Insight attendees that they need to “absolutely look forward” to future opportunities.

“Make no mistake,” Anderson told the crowd at the David L. Lawrence Center, “the Marcellus and Utica Shale plays are some of the most prolific shale plays in history.”

The Stream is continuing to cover the final day of Shale Insight 2017, so follow us here and on Twitter (@TheStream_Hub) for all the latest.