Replies

Report sees economic benefits from ‘fracking’ in Monterey Shale
http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/business/oil/x738927719/Report-sees-economic-benefits-from-fracking-in-Monterey-Shale
Mar 14 2013

A new study predicts that the Monterey Shale oil formation underlying much of the southern Central Valley will fuel substantial economic growth in California for years to come — assuming continued use of the controversial but effective technique known as hydraulic fracturing.

Basing some of their conclusions on the energy boom under way in North Dakota and other states, University of Southern California researchers projected that developing the Monterey will add nearly 3 million jobs and close to $25 billion in tax revenues by 2020.

There will be challenges to address along the way, from heavy demands on local roads and public services to potential water and air pollution as oil producers bring to bear technologies such as hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” according to the study released this week.

The report is sure to stoke hopes that Kern County is literally sitting on a petroleum treasure trove, even as some members of the local oil industry continue to harbor doubts that the Monterey will ever yield the 15 billion barrels of oil that the federal government has estimated exist there.

“This is not the final word, but it just indicates clearly that there could be a real uptick for California,” said Jack Cox, president of The Communications Institute, a nonprofit public policy research and education nonprofit that helped USC economists and engineers with the study.

Among the report’s projections: California’s per-capita economic activity will increase by at least $10,000 over the next seven years thanks to the oil production in the Monterey. That’s 14 percent more gross domestic product per person than would exist without work in the Monterey.

Developing the Monterey — a deep and geologically diverse “source rock” thought to be the largest deposit of its kind in the country — would also greatly reduce California’s heavy reliance on imported oil, the report says.