The president of Consol Energy Corporation expects really exciting things for the Mahoning Valley in the near future as the energy giant accelerates oil and gas exploration in this region over the next year and a half exploration unlikely to stop at the Utica shale.

Mr Nick DeIuliis president of Consol said that "The Mahoning Valley is ground zero for this play. This is just Step One, but there are going to be other horizons in the Mahoning Valley for years to come."

Pittsburgh based Consol and its partner, Hess Energy of Woodbridge, NJ, plan to drill more than 20 wells in the Utica over the next 12 to 18 months throughout nine counties in eastern Ohio, DeIuliis tells The Business Journal. What's more intriguing is that as new technology is introduced and more investment made, it's likely that future wells could unlock gas and oil trapped in other shale formations. That could present a significant potential for long-term growth in the region.

Mr DeIuliis said that "It's not just going to un tap the Utica potential for eastern Ohio and the Mahoning Valley. It will also allow untapping horizons above and below the Utica."

The Utica Point Pleasant shale formations, 7,000 feet below Ohio, have attracted the biggest names in the energy business to eastern Ohio. Shell Oil, BP Energy, Chesapeake Energy Corporation and Devon Energy are among the heavy hitters doing business in the region.

Mr DeIuliis said that "If we're even somewhat close to our projections, which we believe we're going to be, we think the capital investment will exceed hundreds of millions of dollars and approach billions of dollars, frankly, over the five to 10 year drilling horizon. It's not going to be dozens of jobs or hundreds of jobs. It's going to be thousands of jobs."

He said that manufacturers, suppliers, restaurants, vendors, hotels, real estate and service businesses all stand to see a considerable boost in business as a result of shale exploration here. He added that "It's good to see these opportunities in the Marcellus and Utica in the Mahoning Valley, where those jobs are increasingly being filled with people from that region."

Source - Business Journal

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