Outlook Pittsburgh:
Houston on the Monongahela
From the start of coal mining 250 years ago in western Pennsylvania to the drilling of the world’s first oil well in 1859, the region around Pittsburgh has been known as a source of North American energy. In recent decades the main focus has shiſted farther west. Today, though, the area is again in the ascendant thanks to natural gas production in the Marcellus Shale play. Manufacturing is one of the beneficia- ries, as I learned during a two-day visit to the region sponsored by the Pennsyl- vania Department of Community and Economic Development. Overall, the broad spectrum of advan-
tages of the natural gas boom includes: • More domestically sourced energy and less dependence on foreign petroleum
• Lower winter energy bills for those who heat their homes with natural gas
• Inexpensive and plentiful feedstock from which to make plastics, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, paints, coatings and other materials
• Inexpensive energy to power manufacturing
• New jobs in natural gas explora- tion, drilling and production
• A resurgence in manufacturing jobs, particularly those produc- ing equipment and components for natural gas recovery.
About two-thirds of the Marcellus
Shale underlies Pennsylvania (Ohio, West Virginia, New York and Maryland cover the rest). Washington County, PA, immediately southeast of Pittsburgh, provides a great example of the impact
of the Marcellus Shale on jobs. Ac- cording the Bureau of Labor Statistics, between March 2010 and March 2011, Washington County enjoyed the nation’s third best growth rate in employment at 4.3%. More startling, in January 2010, the county bore the burden of a 10% unemployment rate. As natural gas production picked up steam (sorry for the mixed metaphor), the rate dropped to 6.8% by October 2012.
Western Pennsylvania is once again a hotbed of energy
production and manufacturing. Chevron is a big player in the
Marcellus. So much so that in October 2012 it held a supplier forum to educate companies that would like to work with the petroleum giant, Michael A. Frazer, supply chain manager for Chevron’s Appalachian/Michigan Strategic Busi- ness Unit, told the tour group. Suppliers who missed the forum but are interested in working with Chevron, Frazer said, can learn what it takes by visiting the company’s supplier Web site: www.
chevronsupplier.com/ambu/register/ default.aspx. Aſter meeting with Frazer in down-
town Pittsburgh, we bussed over to Aggressive Grinding Service (Latrobe, PA) for a tour of the facility and to learn how the Marcellus has impacted its operations. Aggressive offers preci- sion carbide and ceramic grinding on materials used in high-wear oil and gas applications such as drill bits, bushings and nozzles. Te company also supplies the aerospace, mining, construction and manufacturing industries.
“We’ve been doing work for the oil
and gas industry for over 20 years,” said Aggressive CEO Lester Sutton. “We have seen a 20% increase in our oil and gas business” since the work in the shale play took off in earnest over the last two to four years. To handle the extra work, in the past
year the company bought four new ID grinders from Usach Technologies (Elgin, IL). Aggressive also recently announced a $1 million, 14,000-ſt² (1300-m²) expan- sion for its ceramics division. We next stopped at the Elliott Group
(Jeannette, PA). Now owned by Ebara Corp. (Tokyo), Elliott was founded in Jeannette in 1910. It designs, manufac- tures and services steam turbines, power recovery expanders and centrifugal and axial compressors in Jeannette; Belle Vernon, PA; and Sodegaura, Japan. Some of the ways these products address the needs of the oil & gas industry are in: • Well head/booster stations • Enhanced oil recovery • Gas gathering • Gas/oil separation
Today things are going so well that
the press material Elliott provided us contained a list of job opportunities for nine skilled workers and 28 profession- als. Te picture has not always been so rosy in Jeannette, though. In 2006, said COO Art Titus, Elliott
was making plans to close its Jeannette operations within two years. A new mindset on the part of labor and man- agement as well as the oil and gas boom intervened, and now—because com- panies order its products two to three years in advance of delivery—Elliott’s order book is in handsome shape.
Energy Manufacturing 2013 25
James D. Sawyer Senior Editor
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