CANONSBURG, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The 2014 Penn State Natural Gas Utilization Conference wrapped up a two-day agenda, marking the first time in the growing forum’s four-year history that it convened in Washington County, the heart of western Pennsylvania’s energy production. Hundreds of attendees heard that abundant natural gas reserves are poised to attract major investment to Pennsylvania and its western neighbors.
“We’ve got a bright future, I’ve never seen this region have the breadth of promise that it has as a result of the discovery of the Marcellus and Utica,” said Congressman David McKinley (WV-1). Pennsylvania Congressman Tim Murphy (PA-18) agreed. “When I look at Waynesburg, it’s now a thriving community and it’s all Marcellus Shale…this is a great and exciting time in America,” he said.
The two congressmen underscored potential benefits from exports. “Expanding LNG exports will reduce some of the tension around the world,” Rep. McKinley said. Rep. Murphy added, “We have abundant natural gas supplies to allow exports, and exports also help our trade deficit, helping America invest in manufacturing and infrastructure.”
Cost savings have pushed conversions to natural gas to record levels, according to Robert Stoyko, UGI Utilities vice president of marketing and customers relations. And, Stoyko said, taxpayers benefit, too. “Over the last five years our natural gas conversions included a number of government facilities and schools – helping save taxpayer dollars and providing environmental benefits,” he said.
Former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore closed the program with his thoughts on current economic, energy and foreign policy. “We can prevail in the 21st century, and the emergence of the natural gas industry will carry on the tradition of American exceptionalism. America’s culture of freedom and our free enterprise system has debunked all the talk we’re going to have an energy crisis,” Gilmore said.
The Penn State Natural Gas Utilization Conference was jointly hosted by America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA), the Penn State Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research (MCOR) and the Shale Gas Innovation & Commercialization Center (SGICC). For more information, please visit www.2014utilization.org.
