The Shale boom has some in Philadelphia to imagine it as the next "Houston"

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

Why Philly? Pittsburgh is smack in the center of it all. Not Philly. And it hasn't even happened here like the gas companies promised. Like someone said, prices are tanking.

Philadelphia is in the middle of the largest stretch of population in the country and one of the largest population stretches in the world: "The Boshwash Corridor." Why send it out to Pittsburgh when they can pump it to refineries in Philadelphia and surrounding environs and have it ready to go via train or port to NYC, DC and all locations along the East Coast much quicker than from Pitt? This cuts down on costs to transport to other locations by running pipelines to Philadelphia, Marcus Hook, etc.

Who knows if any of this will actually happen though.

http://powersource.post-gazette.com/...s/201411060284

[DBR96A]

My bet is that Pittsburgh will get most of the engineering and other white-collar energy jobs, and the rest of Pennsylvania will get most of the blue-collar energy jobs, whether they be refining and logistics in Philadelphia, or actually drilling and maintaining the wells in the more rural areas.

[dimondpark]

Originally Posted by Kenmore

PA really doesn't have that much oil or gas and with prices tanking it's even less attractive. This is pretty silly even by puff piece standards.

This^

The industry is reeling right now as plunging oil prices are leading to layoffs and many expansion projects being delayed or shelved altogether.

[Late1]

I don't know much about fossil fuel energy production, but I'm perplexed by the various comments in this thread claiming that PA's not a big oil or gas producer.

While it's true PA isn't one of the bigger players in oil production, the article Mark presented concerns natural gas, where PA is 3rd in production among the states (and as of 2013, the fastest-growing in natural gas production.) First-place TX produces 3.3 times the natural gas that PA does, but that in no way disparages the value of PA's gas fields, as TX has 5.8 times the land area.

And if I'm not mistaken, the idea is to pipe natural gas to the Philadelphia area not only from the PA natural gas fields, but also from parts of OH & WV.

http://explorationworld.com/top10/14...ls-by-US-State

http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=14231

[TexasPlaya]

Originally Posted by Late1

I don't know much about fossil fuel energy production, but I'm perplexed by the various comments in this thread claiming that PA's not a big oil or gas producer.

While it's true PA isn't one of the bigger players in oil production, the article Mark presented concerns natural gas, where PA is 3rd in production among the states (and as of 2013, the fastest-growing in natural gas production.) First-place TX produces 3.3 times the natural gas that PA does, but that in no way disparages the value of PA's gas fields, as TX has 5.8 times the land area.

And if I'm not mistaken, the idea is to pipe natural gas to the Philadelphia area not only from the PA natural gas fields, but also from parts of OH & WV.

http://explorationworld.com/top10/14...ls-by-US-State

http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=14231

It's a bit of a hyperbole to say Philly will become the next "Houston". I think Philly has a great shot at becoming a large regional energy hub for white collar jobs and production.

[dc_denizen]

Philly could see some refinery and petrochemical expansions, and maybe NG liquids (like ethane) exports.

Due to fracking, the northeast (specifically Pa and eastern OH) have increased their share of US natural gas from near-zero to just under 1/4 of the total. TX/OK/LA no longer even supply gas to the northeast - the demand is met with local production, in fact they are starting to reverse pipelines to send gas west to the mid continent and Canada. I don't think people outside the industry understand how amazing this change is.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by sentinel

I think the bigger issue is why hydrocarbons are still considered the 'future' of energy, anywhere?

Maybe because a solar or wind farm is just a gas-fired turbine plant that doesn't run 24/7?

Hydrocarbons are going to be a major component of energy infrastructure anywhere on the globe for decades to come.

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by Crawford

But what does a seaport have to do with central office functions?

And why would there be huge seaport needs? Aren't there restrictions on US energy exports? I know crude can't be exported (which is silly, but currently the rule, I believe).

Philadelphia is actually already a destination for Bakken oil destined for export. It also has significant legacy hydrocarbons infrastructure (multiple refineries built by the former Sun Oil Company lining the Delaware and Schuylkill). PA is a major nat-gas producer as well.

Also don't forget that Houston grew into the nation's main hydrocarbons hub largely because it was the most convenient port-of-export for the old West Texas oilfields. Not much oil 'round where Houston is, either now or then.

Hubs usually grow at points of transshipment, not points of production.

[nergie]

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

Philly could see some refinery and petrochemical expansions, and maybe NG liquids (like ethane) exports.

Due to fracking, the northeast (specifically Pa and eastern OH) have increased their share of US natural gas from near-zero to just under 1/4 of the total. TX/OK/LA no longer even supply gas to the northeast - the demand is met with local production, in fact they are starting to reverse pipelines to send gas west to the mid continent and Canada. I don't think people outside the industry understand how amazing this change is.

Exactly: Mariner West Pipeline, ME I and ME II pipelines. Ethane and other NGLs to Europe are already flowing over MEI Pipeline and loaded at the "Hook". Cove Point, MD is a large LNG facility being built. Philadelphia has 4 refineries and a host of Petrochemicals producers.

Yes oil prices are currently low, however Petrochemicals business is going bananas over cheap feedstock price, with still large margins on finished products such as PP, PET. Furthermore, as efficiency gains are being made in drilling, most producers have already dropped their total cost, including land and opex, to mid-$40's/bbl break even. Yes marginal drillers, those with high debt loads will suffer, and short term this production will be taken off the market, however current global supply is 3-4% in excess of global demand. As such, it won't take much for oil prices to rebound, and hit a higher price than people expect. The rebound in price will exceed expectations give lag in bringing production back online. Most people predict mid-$60s/bbl, however; industry leaders are projecting mid-$70s/bbl by end 2015.

[alasi]

There was an article today about Sunoco wanting to build a new natural gas pipeline from Pittsburgh to Philly. Apparently not everyone is so confident about the demise of natural gas.

[wcphil]

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelp...-000-jobs.html