Posted on 05/20/2017 2:50:41 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
WHEELING — West Virginia’s congressional delegation is showing a unified front in pushing for an ethane storage hub for central Appalachia, and they hope state leaders in Ohio and Pennsylvania join them.
U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., were joined Thursday by Rep. David McKinley, R-Wheeling, and American Chemistry Council President Cal Dooley for a news conference to tout the economic benefits of placing the hub near oil and gas reserves in Appalachia rather than near chemical industry operations on the Gulf Coast.
Manchin and Moore, along with Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, last week introduced the Appalachian Ethane Storage Hub Study Act of 2017. The measure calls for studying the feasibility and potential benefits of establishing a subterranean ethane storage and distribution hub in central Appalachia.
McKinley announced Thursday he would introduce companion legislation in the House on Friday.
“As we all know, energy and manufacturing are two segments that are critical to growth in the state,” Capito said. “We have the resources, with the Marcellus, the Utica and the Rogersville shale plays in our area. For West Virginians, we want to keep the value of the resource in our regions … and we want to start revitalizing our chemical industry and our plastics industry in and around our Marcelus shale.”
She added it’s important for West Virginia to see the state’s resources processed in the state, and not piped to Florida, Texas or other areas.
Manchin said the possibility of an ethane storage hub in West Virginia “could be a game-changer for the state.”
“We have a tremendous footprint as far as a chemical valley in West Virginia that can be reinvigorated. … ,” he said. “And we have three states (West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania) working together, crossing energy borders — and basically following the energy flow.”
He encouraged the legislatures in the three states to band together to invest money in the storage hub project.
“The geologics are being done now,” Manchin said. “Once we get the geologics back, this should be a no-brainer. I’m hoping all three legislatures get involved. This is a tremendous opportunity for the state of West Virginia to produce jobs for the future and a great return on investment for the people of West Virginia.”
McKinley said similar legislation to establish an ethane storage hub in West Virginia has passed the House three times, but in the past hasn’t been taken up by the Senate.
“I think there is strong support for this concept,” he said. “The idea of having the storage up in the Northeast — as compared to the Gulf Coast — is very instrumental so we can be able to keep it. West Virginia is the biggest producer of shale gas in the country. East of the Mississippi, we’re one of the biggest producers of gas overall.”
Dooley it would take about $10 billion to create the ethane storage hub and the related pipeline. He estimates this would then result in about $32 billion in private investment and in about $28 billion in annual output.
There would also be about 100,000 jobs created, including temporary construction jobs, according to Dooley. He said the average pay in the chemical industry is about $90,000 annually.
This big enough for you?
Great news. This is diversity I can support
I hope there’s language in that agreement that ensures they hire the locals instead of bringing in leftists from all over the country.
These kinds of infrastructure projects can also bring in foreign investment. EU is a high cost of energy area, and China has not tapped its gas reserves very well yet. Companies in both areas might want to relocate to West Virginia and take advantage of the low cost of energy and input chemicals to create products.
Just don’t unionize.
“I hope there’s language in that agreement that ensures they hire the locals instead of bringing in leftists from all over the country.”
They will hire people that have the necessary skill sets.
If they can find 100,000 people in Wheeling, West Virgina with chemical engineering skills beyond what may be required for a WV meth lab, they will hire those people.
If not, they will look elsewhere for qualified workers.
Running a meth lab teaches all the important skills, chemistry, entrepenureship, work ethic... Lol
Running a meth lab teaches all the important skills, chemistry, entrepenureship, work ethic... Lol
...
You’re not a teacher driving an RV are you ?
“Running a meth lab teaches all the important skills, chemistry, entrepenureship, work ethic...”
A work ethic that drives a man to work 120 hours without a break.
If they can find 100,000 people in Wheeling, West Virgina with chemical engineering skills beyond what may be required for a WV meth lab, they will hire those people.
Not a word mentioned about needing chemical engineering skills. You're not worthy enough to sweep floors in Wheeling.
A Google search of “Wheeling WV” + “meth lab” produces quite a few results.
A small fraction of the jobs created would need chemical engineering skills. This is to build a facility, so construction/engineering, transportation, management, etc. would be needed more.
Also, all the new people moving in would need groceries, gasoline, clothing, which would cause hiring in all industries.
+1
A Google search of “Timpanagos1” + “FR Troll” produces quite a few results.
Politicians inflate the expected number of downstream jobs.
Also, if we drop out of the Paris agreements on “climate change,” we can scoop up a lot of international business because we can keep energy prices lower than the EU.
Congrats West Virginia. Now keep voting Trump!!! MAGA!
????
You do realize that petroleum engineering STARTED not far from Wheeling, and the first petroleum engineering degrees came from the University of Pittsburgh over 100 years ago. Western PA and the nearby Ohio River Valley have a rich history in petroleum engineering and petro products manufacturing that continues to this day.
>Running a meth lab teaches all the important skills, chemistry, entrepenureship, work ethic... Lol
There are two types of Hillbilly chemists, those that make meth that blows up and improvised explosives that fizzle...
...and those that survive.
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