Eagle Ford Shale Added $25 Billion to Texas Economy
A UTSA study projects the Eagle Ford Shale — one of the largest recoverable oil and gas fields in the lower 48 — could create as many as 117,000 jobs by 2021.
According to a study released last month by The University of Texas at San Antonio Institute for Economic Development, the development of the Eagle Ford Shale contributed $25 billion in total economic output to the counties of the region in 2011. According to Dr. Thomas Tunstall, director of the UTSA Center for Community & Business Research, the play “supported 47,000 full-time jobs in the area, and provided $257 million in local government revenue.”
In addition, the study also showed that, in 2011, shale-related development in the region paid $3.1 billion in salaries and benefits to worked, provided more than $12.6 billion in gross regional product, and added more than $358 million in state revenues. Some local counties even experienced triple-digit sales tax revenue.
Local communities are benefitting from the economic boom, as well, with the construction of new schools and hospitals. More and more people are attending new training programs designed to maximize local hiring.
The study researched the economic impact of the “boom” on the 14 counties actively producing oil and gas from the Eagle Ford Shale formation and the six surrounding counties indirectly involved.