West Virginia Executive Spring/Summer 2020 | Page 35

Within
Reach
The Appalachian
Petrochemical
Renaissance
SAMANTHA CART
Appalachia’s evolving energy landscape offers significant
potential for helping the U.S. maintain its position as one of
the world’s top oil and natural gas producers and exporters.
Part of this potential lies in the petrochemical industry.
Natural gas liquids (NGLs) like ethane and propane are key
feedstocks for the petrochemical industry, and the resulting
petrochemicals, including acetylene, benzene, ethane, methane,
propane and hydrogen, are obtained from the cracking and
processing of oil and natural gas. This makes Appalachia—
and West Virginia—a gold mine for revitalization.
The shale gas revolution has produced abundant, affordable
natural gas and NGLs in the Appalachian region, and
because American manufacturing relies on a steady source of
petrochemicals to produce everyday items from plastics, paints,
solvents, antifreeze, batteries and automotive parts to phones,
clothes, soap, detergent and bedding, this surplus has the
potential to create a surge in petrochemical and manufacturing
opportunities.
According to the American Chemistry Council, the country’s
$528 billion chemical industry, which provides 12 percent of
the world's chemicals, supports 25 percent of the U.S. GDP
and 529,000 American jobs.
While most U.S. petrochemical production has historically
occurred in the Gulf Coast region, the Marcellus and Utica
shale plays have turned the tide, and Appalachia now produces
more than 32 percent of the country’s natural gas and
600,000 barrels of NGLs per day. This growth creates the
opportunity for a renaissance of the Appalachian petrochemical
industry, and many energy leaders believe this renaissance is
within reach, including Steven Winberg, the U.S. Department
of Energy’s assistant secretary for fossil energy.
“The first cracker was built in West Virginia, just east of
Charleston,” says Winberg. “That is why we call it a renaissance—because
this industry got its start in West Virginia. The
Appalachian region is responsible for 85 percent of the growth
in U.S. natural gas production in the last decade, and that is
why companies like Shell and PTT Global Chemical America
are looking to invest in multibillion-dollar crackers in West
Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania.”
This renaissance relies on building and maintaining critical
infrastructure, including NGL transportation and storage,
better roads and top-notch broadband. This could lead to $36
billion in capital investment, $28 billion in economic expansion,
$2.9 billion in annual tax revenue and 101,000 jobs in
With the addition of the Marcellus and Utica shale plays, Appalachia now
produces more than 32% of U.S. natural gas and 600,000 bbls per day of
NGLs. This creates an opportunity for a renaissance of the Appalachian
petrochemical industry. Critical to this renaissance is NGL transport and
storage, as well as petrochemical infrastructure.
Source: West Virginia Department of Energy
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