Executive Summary

Many Pennsylvanians are aware of the recent surge in natural gas leasing activity. The vast majority of citizens, however, do not fully appreciate the scale of change such development will unleash. This report educates the public on the current size, economic impacts, and future prospects of the Marcellus shale gas industry in Pennsylvania. The Marcellus shale is the largest unconventional natural gas reserve in the world. While reserve estimates should be considered somewhat uncertain at this early stage, as each new Marcellus well is completed, estimates of recoverable reserves of at least 489 trillion cubic feet seem increasingly reasonable. The market and strategic value of the Marcellus Shale will no doubt grow as conventional natural gas reserves are depleted and our economy adjusts to a path with lower greenhouse gas emissions. Natural gas has considerably lower carbon content than petroleum and coal. The market share of natural gas in electric power generation continues to expand and opportunities for switching from petroleum to natural gas beckon in the transportation sector. This study finds that the Marcellus gas industry in Pennsylvania generated $2.3 billion in total value added, more than 29,000 jobs, and $240 million in state and loca