Shale exploration and development heats up US onshore job market

While the drilling moratorium has hit the US petroleum industry hard, especially when you think about the thousands of oil and gas professionals who have been shelved during this tumultuous time. Fortunately, the shale exploration and development is booming across the US, and the job market is just as hot.



I've always heard that when one door closes, another opens -- and true to form with regard to the petroleum industry, shale has blown open all sorts of employment and economic doors.



Although geologists have known that the US sat atop various shale plays for decades, extracting these hydrocarbons has historically proven extremely difficult. Shale is by definition trapped in finely grained sedimentary rock, which has until recently stumped both the exploration and production side things.



With myriad improvements in technologies, the oil and gas industry has recently been able to tap these domestic resources. Improvements in horizontal and direction drilling, as well as developments in hydraulic fracturing have enabled operators to ramp up onshore oil and gas production through these shale plays.



With the number of rigs soaring in multiple states due to shale drilling, field development and even pipeline construction has soared in recent months due to increased activity in the US shale plays. And increased activity in the shale plays equals more jobs for US oil and gas professionals.



The Marcellus Shale play in Pennsylvania alone is adding tens of thousands of jobs to the state, and there are so many oilfield workers tapped for North Dakota's Bakken Shale play that housing has become an issue. Furthermore, these jobs extend beyond the petroleum industry. Increase revenue, royalties and leasing payments, as well and indirect employment is also boosted by this petroleum rush.



In fact, states across the nation are seeing economic spikes from shale activities.



"The game-changing development of natural gas supplies in shale regions has great potential to improve the economic well-being of communities across the United States, while providing access to a clean domestic energy source,” said Regina Hopper, America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) president and CEO.



Interested in finding a job in the shale industry? Visit PennEnergyJOBS to find your next career.

HSES efforts pick up in the energy industry -- Good news will prevail

It's a common knowledge in the news industry: Death and destruction sells newspapers, multiplies page views, nabs viewers. As a regular writer for the web, my analytical tools further confirm that bad news is good news for page views.

Akin to rubber-necking, people just like to watch a ship sinking... whether it's gossiping about the latest Hollywood doomed marriage or a tragic accident, it's human nature to converge on the scene.

We've certainly seen this phenomenon demonstrated in the oil and gas industry as of late. The world can't get enough about the oil spill in the Gulf, and subsequent oil leaks in the shallow waters offshore Louisiana, at a port in China and from a pipeline in Michigan have certainly gotten the attention of many a PennEnergy reader.

The excitement of hurricane season can sometimes land more eyes than an oil and gas discovery. (And as I wrote yesterday, this season is forecast to be an "extremely active" one.)

While HSES (Health Safety Environment and Security) opportunities abound, recent accidents have solidified the industry's commitment to safety and the environment.

I recently spoke with a woman whose husband works as an HSE consultant. She said he's swamped with jobs right now. As soon as he gets home from a gig, he's flying out again -- all over the world. After the Macondo oil spill, companies are eager to double- and triple-check their facilities and HSES practices, and his consultancy has seen the jump in clients because of it.

Dedicated preventative and proactive health and safety efforts will help to ensure these types of accidents never occur again.

A four-company consortium consisting of ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Shell and Chevron recently pledged $1 billion to develop and maintain a deepwater oil spill containment system that can be deployed within hours should any other accident occur in the US Gulf of Mexico.

And good news is around the corner with the recent accidents. China is working to clean the spill at its Dalian port, and Enbridge Energy Partners has cleaned a substantial amount of the oil that spilled from its Lakehead system in Michigan.

Wild Well Control managed to wrangle and cap the new oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico more than a week before the well was supposed to be capped.

Oil and gas operators and offshore drilling contractors have been diligent in shutting-in production that may be in the path of a storm, as well as quickly working to evacuate offshore staff should a hurricane threaten to travel near facilities.

In the deepwaters of the GOM, not only has BP commenced the static kill procedure, pumping concrete into the Macondo well, but the US government reported that nearly three-fourths of the oil that spilled from the deepwater accident has been cleaned, contained or dispersed.