Utica Shale Gas has Great Possibilities (Parkersburg, Wheeling: manufactured, rail, land)

[CTMountaineer]

The Marcellus Shale gas productioin is going to have a sweeping effect on most of West Virginia, but it turns out Utica Shale will also be very beneficial. They are reaping massive results from Utica drilling in Eastern Ohio near Wheeling...

Chesapeake Cashes In On Utica Shale - News, Sports, Jobs - The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register

http://geology.com/articles/utica-shale/

The most valuable natural gas is the "wet gas" found in the Northern Panhandle down to an area north of Parkersburg. That gas is valuable because several energy byproducts can be manufactured from it:

http://www.marcellus.psu.edu/images/...with_Depth.gif

In the Marshall County area, this wet gas can be reached at a relatively shallow depth for drilling purposes, which makes that gas commodity especially in high demand.

[snorpus]

I think one of the big oil/gas companies is looking to build a plant to process "wet" gas, probably along the Ohio in the vicinity of PPG and Bayer at Natrium.

[CTMountaineer]

That is absolutely a logical location for such a plant, right smack in the middle of the wet gas region, with readily available river and rail facilities and lots of available, flat land in an area that is a good fit for a chemical plant... far enough removed from heavily populated areas to minimize risks to inhabitants. And, there is more land available for spin off industries that can use the products made there and a population with experience working in the chemical industry.