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I was wondering if anyone knew whether there were some cities that are big on oil and gas (particularly natural gas) besides the Houston/Texas area (yes I know Texas isn't a city but you know what I mean)? I've been reading about this area a lot more and it plus natural resources in general (I.e. Mining, rare minerals, etc.) seem quite interesting to me. As my name implies, I'd be working more on the finance side, so I'm wondering if there is a region that has a lot of decent sized oil and gas companies or could start to see more companies being founded there due to a boom in natural gas in the future besides Houston, which is undoubtably the energy Mecca of the World. I'm wondering if, for example, Philadelphia may see itself become more of an energy hub because of the Marcellus Shale, etc. I guess since I mentioned it, if people also know about the natural resources industry and where that is big, that would be sweet as well.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Calgary and Edmonton up in Alberta, Canada thrive on Oil & Gas. Calgary has the white collar/finance jobs. There are also many Americans in the O&G industry living up there. With the Alberta Oil Sands and Keystone Pipeline prospects, it will continue to grow.
Perhaps I should rephrase: I'm not looking for a place that is AS large or AS important as Houston. That would be foolish and akin to me saying, "which city is as big as NYC for financial services" or "which city is as big as LA for film production" or "which city is as big as San Francisco for technology". It simply doesn't exist because those cities are second to none in those respective industries by a good margin (except for maybe LA in media given how much TV is produced in NYC).
Having said that, it's still possible to have a very successful career in financial services in places such as Chicago or San Francisco; it's possible to have a great career in tech in Boston or Seattle, etc especially if the "1st tier" city isn't a good fit otherwise. That's more what I'm looking for. If I wanted to work in energy (in a finance/accounting role within an exploration and production company, maybe refining as well), where could I go besides Houston?
Also, I appreciate the Canada answer, but I'd prefer continental US if at all possible.
Most of the energy companies are headquartered in Houston with the other major players such as Exxon-Mobil and Valero being located in Dallas and San Antonio respectively so if you want to climb higher up in your career you are better off going to those cities. That being said Alaska, Colorado, Utah, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Louisiana also have a significant oil and gas presence as well although most of those positions will be lower on the totem pole with limited opportunities for advancement.
Philly has a decent energy precense but not as large
I think without Marcellus it is already the largest oil producer on the East Coast
Houston and Dallas are probably the largest
Sunoco is pretty large, but other than that, I'm not so sure. PECO is a First Energy company, and Philly isn't really that much of a player in the 'new' energy boom. If any area in PA is poised to benefit from Marcellus Shale, it is going to be PGH.
Pittsburg, PA (Marcellas Shale)
Charleston, WV (Marcellas Shale)
Morgantown, WV (Marcellas Shale)
Laredo, TX (Eagle Ford Shale, Pearsall Shale)
San Antonio, TX (Eagle Ford Shale, Pearsall Shale)
Corpus Christi, TX (Eagle Ford Shale)
Shreveport, LA (Haynesville Shale and Brown Dense Shale)
Texarkana, AR or Magnolia, AR (Brown Dense Shale)
Williston, ND
Denver, CO
Dallas, TX (Barnett Shale)
Tulsa, OK
Bakersfield, CA
My husband is an oil and gas consultant who has worked all over the US and the world. These are some cities and areas with a lot of continuing work.
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