Ohio is becoming king of natural gas and shale

Ohio has played a big role in the oil and gas industry for decades. Over the past few years, coal and nuclear plants have been shutting down, but the Buckeye State has been growing its natural gas and shale contributions to replace them.

According to one Forbes article, Ohio now supplies up to 7% of natural gas in the U.S. market. This puts it in prime position to export to gas-hungry states, such as California, Florida and New York. These and other states are now turning to natural gas as a greener and less risky alternative to producing energy. There are additional benefits a larger natural gas market brings to the state:

• More tax money
• Lower unemployment rates
• Decrease in greenhouse gas emissions

In fact, the writer believes Ohio’s natural gas reserves and continued growth may revolutionize the energy industry nationwide and then worldwide. America expects to increase its use of natural gas by up to 2% every year. The writer predicts that the U.S. could become the largest exporter of liquefied natural gas within roughly six years. He also believes that natural gas could replace oil as the number one source of energy in the world in just 15 years.

Utica, Ohio may find itself at the forefront of this growth and the change it leads to. This may explain why so many investors and larger companies are now focusing their interests in the area. MarketWatch reported last year that Encino Acquisition Partners planned to acquire Chesapeake Energy’s (Chesapeake) Utica Shale and its assets for $2 billion.