Penn State Report Projects More Drilling. Could more gas workers be coming? Yes.

June 21, 2010 - PRLog -- Headline:  Penn State Report Projects More Drilling.  Could more gas workers be coming? Yes.

Penn State’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering has just released its “The Economic Impacts of the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Play: An Update.”  In the report, Penn State projects that the increase in the number of wells drilled will go from 710 in 2090 to 1700 in 2010 an increase of 139%.  In 2011, Penn State forecasts the number of wells drilled to 2200 a 30% increase.

This rapid escalation of drilling will mean that more gas workers are coming to Pennsylvania. While no organization can provide an accurate count of out-of-state gas workers, it is safe to say that the number of gas workers is in thousands.  One only has to look at hotel occupancy rates of 90% - 100% throughout the Marcellus Shale area to give credence to these numbers.  

More gas workers are coming to Pennsylvania because Pennsylvanians have not readily taken advantage of the gas industry jobs.  Joe Barone, President, PAGasDirectory.com observes, “The daily work schedule of 12 hours on and 12 hours off for two or more straight weeks is a much different work culture than most Pennsylvanians are accustomed to.  The Pennsylvania work culture follows a traditional 40-hour work week.”  He further commented, “In my travels throughout the state, I have heard the same commentary regarding the Pennsylvania work culture”

While it’s more economical for gas companies to hire locals and they want to, the rapid increase in drilling coupled with the lack of local workers will force the gas companies to bring in more workers to meet the drilling projections.  “Look for more construction of hotels, apartments, houses, office and commercial buildings,” stated Barone.  “Pennsylvania is entering an ‘Energy Era’ which will offer significant opportunity for all business sectors throughout the state.”    

PAGasDirectory is the leading online directory that connects the natural gas industry with local Pennsylvania businesses.  The directory has over 116,000 Pennsylvania businesses organized on a county by county in the 53 counties in the Marcellus Shale area.  It is the web site where gas workers, their spouses, and families find local Pennsylvania businesses.  
For more information about the web site, contact Joe Barone, 610.764.1232 or jbarone@pagasdirectory.com  or visit http://www.pagasdirectory.com