MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The United States could become the largest oil and natural gas producer in the world within the next five years.
That is according to Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council Chief Economist Ray Keating who wrote a recent report titled “The Benefits of Natural Gas Production and Exports for U.S. Small Businesses.”
He called the shift toward U.S. production, including natural gas production in West Virginia, “dramatic.”
“We’re going to be looking to export on all fronts, particularly on natural gas, over the next few years,” Keating said. Those export additions will come as the international demand for natural gas grows by an estimated 50 percent during the coming decades.
His report looked at the growth in the number of employer firms and jobs in the energy sector between 2005 and 2010. He said the job growth is the most striking among the small businesses.
“This is not just, if you want to call it ‘big oil,’ ‘ big energy.’ Small businesses play a huge role in the energy sector. When you look at the numbers, 80 percent roughly, give or take, of each sector are businesses with less than 20 employees,” said Keating.
“So the energy business is very much about small business.”
The report showed that while total U.S. unemployment declined by 3.7 percent from 2005 to 2010, jobs grew by 27.6 percent in the oil and gas extraction sector and 62 percent in the oil and gas field machinery and equipment manufacturing sector.
Keating, a guest on MetroNews “Talkline,” said regulators must try to not impede that growth in the years ahead.
His full report is available at www.sbecouncil.org.