Marcellus and Utica Shales and Ohio Schools: A Possible Model for Economic Growth and Opportunity

It’s a tale of two numbers: $2.9 billion and $9.6 billion.

The first number, $2.9 billion, represents the reduction in education funding in the state budget for fiscal 2012-2013.

The second number, $9.6 billion, represents the projected value of the annual oil and gas production in the State of Ohio by 2014 as a result of the drilling and related activities in the Marcellus and Utica Shales in Ohio.

For school leaders who see the state budget as “passing the buck” to local school districts to raise taxes to maintain funding for basic educational services, the economic development model for growth that the Marcellus and Utica Shale plays represent for at least one third of the eastern portion of Ohio public schools is unprecedented and it presents many Ohio public schools with the opportunity for a new economic model for long-term financial growth and stability.

The Economic Growth Model For Ohio:  Marcellus and Utica Shale Development

Already several national and regional oil and gas companies have begun to lease and acquire more than four million acres of land in a handful of counties along the eastern border of Ohio for shale drilling. Utica Shale deposits will likely prove to be unusually rich in natural gas, oil and natural gas liquids, according to industry experts. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources estimates the Utica Shale deposits in Eastern Ohio to hold a potential of 5.5 billion barrels of oil and 15.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.  In practice, these oil and gas resources can be used to produce fuels, heat homes and manufacture products ranging from plastic toys to cosmetics to medicines to tennis shoes.