by George Hohmann
Daily Mail Business Editor
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for 21st Century Energy has launched "Shale Works for US," a campaign "to galvanize support" for the shale gas industry, said Karen Harbert, the institute's president and chief executive officer.
Harbert launched the campaign Tuesday at a press conference at Walker Machinery Co.'s training center in Belle.
"The prospect for energy self-reliance is before us — if we allow it," Harbert said. "In 2000, shale gas represented 2 percent of our natural gas production. In 2011, it was 34 percent. In 2015 it will be an estimated 43 percent."
Natural gas produced from shale formations in the United States "can put the community, put teachers back to work," Harbert said. "At West Virginia University, the unemployment rate for those with graduate degrees in geology is zero. That's a great story."
Walter Clark, general manager of Walker Machinery Co.'s equipment rental stores, said the company has a store in Parkersburg and is considering opening another on the Ohio River to serve the companies that work in the natural gas industry.
Walker Machinery has historically sold, serviced and rented heavy equipment mainly to the coal industry. Monty Boyd bought the Caterpillar equipment dealer in 2010. Walker currently has about 700 employees. The company has eight locations in West Virginia and one in Ohio.
In an interview in March, Boyd said Walker will continue to rely on the coal industry for a majority of its sales. But to help the company ride out the coal industry's ups and downs, Walker will pursue opportunities with businesses involved in the natural gas-rich shales, he said.
Boyd said those opportunities include:
- Rebuilding the large diesel and natural gas-fired engines that transmission companies use to move natural gas through pipelines.
- Selling earth-moving equipment to companies that build drilling pads.
- Selling equipment to build roads in remote areas, to clear rights of way and to lay pipelines.
Boyd said in March — and Clark repeated on Tuesday — that by diversifying, Walker can retain its highly trained employees.
David Knuth, executive director of the Marshall County Chamber of Commerce, said at Tuesday's press conference there are seven pipeline companies currently operating in Marshall County.
"We have an abundance of employees from other states - from as far away as Oregon," he said. The influx of people is so great there aren't any available places to stay, he said. Property owners can rent a space for a 35-foot camper and a pickup truck for $800 a month, he said.
Several factories are under construction in the county that will separate ethane from natural gas. "Some of this gas, after it is separated, will end up possibly out of state," Knuth said. "We would like to have the plants that are using this gas, rather than seeing it sent away. This is our challenge now."
Meanwhile, businesses that provide food and shelter, machinery and rental property are doing well. The shale gas drilling business "is quite a breath of fresh air for our county," Knuth said.
The "Shale Works for US" campaign is one of several aimed at improving the public image of the natural gas industry:
- In 2007 the Independent Oil and Gas Association of West Virginia and the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association launched "Energize West Virginia with Natural Gas."
- In 2011 an alliance supported by the West Virginia Petroleum Council, a division of the American Petroleum Institute, and the Independent Oil and Gas Association of West Virginia launched "Just Beneath the Surface."
The mission of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for 21st Century Energy is "to unify policymakers, regulators, business leaders, and the American public behind a common sense energy strategy to help keep America secure, prosperous and clean."