natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale-producing areas of West Virginia to markets in the Northeast , Midwest and Gulf Coast .
Many natural gas processing plants and pipelines for both dry and natural gas liquids ( NGL ) have been constructed or expanded in the North Central West Virginia region over the past several years . West Virginia has 31 underground natural gas storage fields — 30 in depleted natural gas reservoirs and one in an existing aquifer . Those fields have a total storage capacity in excess of 530 billion cubic feet of natural gas and account for almost 6 % of the nation ’ s total underground natural gas storage capacity . The proximity of this storage capacity to northeastern markets makes West Virginia an important supplier to the region during the winter months when natural gas demand peaks .
Pipeline construction activity has also provided a significant boost to the state ’ s economy in recent years . By the time pipeline construction activity peaked in midto late 2018 , it had added nearly 12,000 jobs to the sector ’ s total and boosted total wages from nearly $ 1.8 billion to $ 3.4 billion on an annualized basis . Of course , these projects are not permanent , and thus , as the projects wind down , the boost to topline jobs and wages will also fade . Upon completion of the Rover II and Mountaineer Xpress pipeline projects , and the shutdown of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and Mountain Valley Pipeline projects , the sector saw payroll levels reach what was observed in late 2017 by the fourth quarter of 2019 . The COVID- 19 pandemic response did lead to some initial layoffs for large-scale projects , but many of these were classified as essential activities so the majority of losses occurred at construction contractors that couldn ’ t perform work due to shelter-inplace orders and general consumer fears over viral spread .
West Virginia ’ s natural gas industry is expected to lose some steam in 2021 as the slowdown in exploration and development activity over the course of 2020 causes depletion rates to offset the productivity gains drillers have realized by extending lateral lengths and increasingly re-fracking old wells . This weakness should wane in the late-2021 / early-2022 time frame as continued growth in demand from the electric power sector and the start of production at the Shell cracker plant bolsters NGL production in West Virginia ’ s northwestern counties . Indeed , marketed production is expected to reach more than 3.3 Tcf in 2023 and continue rising to an annual total of 3.7 Tcf of natural gas volume by 2025 .
Manufacturing
West Virginia ’ s manufacturing sector has recorded moderate employment gains over the past few years . While this sector ’ s growth has been driven in large part by a handful of substantial companies opening new facilities and / or expanding their operations in a couple of the state ’ s stronger economic regions , it marks a significant departure from the sustained job losses the sector experienced between 2001 and 2016 . Also , despite the diminished footprint of the sector overall , some regions within the state retain a sizable dependence
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