Yesterday President Trump took his 13th visit to the Commonwealth, stopping in Monaca, Pennsylvania to tour the Shell ethylene plant. The President stuck to his agenda and touted the energy dominance the United States is experiencing with much credit due to the impact that Pennsylvania has had as the second largest natural gas producing state in the country.
President Trump spoke to the American energy revolution and just how large of an undertaking revitalizing the domestic energy sector has been. The Shell cracker plant in Beaver County is one of the largest energy infrastructure investments in the country. With an estimated cost of $6 billion, the project created around 2,500 construction jobs and required a variety of heavy equipment – including one of the world’s largest cranes – to see this project through.
Expected to go online as early as the end of 2019, the Shell cracker plant will bring significant job opportunities to the area. Commerce will flourish once the facility goes online. With record levels of natural gas production from the Marcellus and Utica Shale Formations, the Shell cracker will be able to diversify the available resources and thus increase commerce opportunities statewide.
All of this would not be possible without a fully developed energy infrastructure industry. Wells, pump stations, pipelines, refineries and shipping terminals must all work in tandem to bring the product to market so that people can enjoy the modern conveniences afforded through natural gas. President Trump put it succinctly himself, “…we love natural gas…”