Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Gas boom brings steel production back to Ohio

The natural-gas boom is creating a resurgence of Ohio steel production, report Mark Niquette and Romy Varghese of Bloomberg News. Youngstown's steel era ended 34 years ago, but a new $650 million steel mill is being built to produce seamless pipe used in hydraulic fracturing. Other states are taking note and competing for other gas-related projects.

Youngstown has lost more than half its population since the 1950s, and officials hope the new steel plant will make the area "the Utica Shale supply-chain capital." Eric Planey, vice president of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, told Bloomberg, "Our past was exclusively steel. It looks like our future is going to be significantly a part of the oil and gas and energy business.”

State officials are trying to capitalize on other "spinoff investments" related to gas drilling, like processing plants, which Royal Dutch Shell has said it intends to build in Ohio, Pennsylvania or West Virginia. Officials are offering companies incentives. (Read more)

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