Apr 20, 2024 By Rick Shrum 3 min read

Dave Callahan was in his element Thursday morning – extolling the virtues of natural gas in the heart of Marcellus Shale.

“We have seen significant growth in this industry,” he said. “Natural gas generation was responsible for 1.5% of (the nation’s) power generation in 2005. It’s now 59%.”

Callahan is president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, a Pittsburgh-based trade association that, according to its website, “works with exploration and production, midstream and supply chain partners in the Appalachian Basin and across the country.”

He was the featured speaker at a briefing hosted by the Washington County Chamber of Commerce at Range Resources’ regional corporate offices at Southpointe.

Range, in 2004, successfully drilled the first unconventional well in the shale formation, Renz No. 1 in Mt. Pleasant Township. The company, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, has been an active driller since.

Callahan, speaking without a microphone and complemented by PowerPoint slides, said his organization has a large membership with a formidable presence statewide. “More than 95% of the natural gas from Pennsylvania is produced, processed and transported by (coalition) members.”

Information on two graphics was not surprising. One showed that Susquehanna, Greene and Washington counties were the top three natural gas producers among the commonwealth’s 67 counties.

“The three jockey among the top” most years, Callahan said. That was followed by a map of Southwestern Pennsylvania, with red dots marking well locations. Washington and Greene were virtual red seas.

“The absolute growth of gas generation has been an absolute boom to the area and the commonwealth,” Callahan said.

That boom has been resounding in Washington County, according to still another graphic listing impact fees distributed to county and municipal governments by drillers. It showed that from 2012 to 2023, county governments received a total of $76.36 million while municipalities got $130.5 million.

Callahan said the coalition “tracks a lot of facts,” and commissioned a study last year that determined that the state’s natural gas industry in 2022 “supported 123,000 jobs; generated more than $41 billion In economic activity; paid more than $6.3 billion in royalties to Pennsylvania landowners; paid workers an average of $97,000 per year, 113% higher than the state’s median wage; and paid more than $5.8 billion in local, state and federal taxes.

The study, according to the coalition’s website, “was conducted by energy economists at FTI Consulting Inc., a global business advisory firm.”

The coalition president admitted shale development is dealing with challenges, including regulatory uncertainty and infrastructure issues, but touted much that is going on in the industry.

“Wholesale electric prices have been generally stable since 2008, and we’re making tremendous climate progress in Pennsylvania,” Callahan said. “Carbon dioxide emissions are lower and the air is cleaner now than it has been in a heck of a long time.

“We support renewable industries, but natural gas is there when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine.”