Byesville Rotarians Learn about Guernsey County Oil and Gas Development
Mike
Chadsey, director of public relations for Ohio Oil and Gas Association (OOGA),
spoke to the Byesville Rotary. Chadsey described the OOGA as a trade
association representing all facets of the oil and gas industry in Ohio.
OOGA
members include the oil and natural gas producers seen drilling in Guernsey
County, national oil and natural gas producing companies, plus international
oil and natural gas companies. Chadsey stated that the U.S. is the largest
national gas producer and Russia is No. 2. Together, Ohio and Pennsylvania rank
No. 3. The discovery of Ohio’s oil shale has given Ohio a presence in the
international oil and gas industry.
Chadsey
shared a little-known fact that in 1814, Ohio had the first discovery of oil in
the U.S. Landowners Thorla and McKee were drilling for slat brine to make salt.
They found brine and some awful smelling stuff that created a nuisance for them
by polluting their salt brine. Salt evaporated from the brine was valuable and
could be sold for preserving and flavoring food and raising livestock. The
black smelly stuff was not considered valuable until 1859 when refining made it
useful for use in homes.
Drilling
companies active in our area include Encino Energy, Ascent Resources, Montage
Resources and EQT — the oldest and largest company in the U.S. Chadsey pointed
out that currently many drilling companies are consolidating so we should
expect names to change. Currently, Ohio produces more gas than it consumes.
Chadsey
explained that the oil shale and the drilling companies are the bottom level of
a complex of industries that are part of the oil and gas industry. This complex
of associated industries may take up to 10 years to develop.
Industries
and businesses drawn to an oil and gas producing area include natural gas power
plants such as the one being built along Interstate 77 and south of Interstate
70. Another level of industry is the ethane cracker plants which break the
ethane into its chemical components which are used to produce plastic such as
polyethylene. A final level of industry is the establishment of plastic
manufacturing plants which like to be located near to the plastic supplies they
need.
Chadsey pointed out that our area has advantages other than oil shale — good weather for one — in this case no hurricanes which can force power plants to close down. Additionally, Guernsey County is within a one-day drive to 50% of North American markets.