Three states extend their agreement to work together
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced Wednesday his state, West Virginia and Ohio are extending their agreement to work together on natural gas resources through 2021.
Tri-State Shale Coalition was formed in 2015 for the mutual benefit of all three states, as the delve into the natural gas industry in the Marcellus and Utica shale formations. The agreement is among Wolf and fellow governors John Kasich of Ohio and Jim Justice of West Virginia.
The extension also is a message to domestic and international markets the three states intend to increase their own manufacturing opportunities over exporting resources to other areas.
Wolf said in a prepared statement: “The shale gas resources in the Appalachian Basin represent enormous economic opportunity not just for Pennsylvania, but for the region as a whole. We have a unique proposition: abundant and low-cost feedstock for petrochemical and plastics manufacturing, all within the same geographic footprint.
“I’m proud to continue our successful collaboration with Ohio and West Virginia to ensure that we are doing everything we can to support additional development – and the jobs and economic growth that go with it – in a region with an unprecedented natural resource.”
The states are working together at a time Shell is building its ethane cracker plant in Potter Township, Beaver County, and amid speculation the region could accommodate up to four other cracker plants.