Nearly 48,000 people have been hired in the last year by industries related to drilling in the Marcellus Shale, and 71 percent of those people were Pennsylvania residents. Nine thousand of them were hired in the first three months of 2011.

The average salary was higher than the statewide average.

And the rate of hiring is accelerating.

While there has been much talk of the economic impact of the Marcellus, most of it has been anecdotal, until the Department of Labor and Industry quietly published its most up-to-date hard numbers about two weeks ago. Read more »

What are some factors that need to be considered when selling my minerals? Read more »

Companies estimate that the boom from new oil drilling will create more than two million new jobs, directly or indirectly, and bring tens of billions of dollars to the states where the fields are located, which include traditional oil sites like Texas and Oklahoma, industrial stalwarts like Ohio and Michigan and even farm states like Kansas. Read more »

Ohio on Tuesday May 24, 2011 moved a step closer to opening its state parks to drilling for natural gas and oil.

Along party lines, the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee voted 12-7 to approve House Bill 133, which would open about 174,000 acres at Ohio's 75 state parks to drilling.

A full vote in the Republican-controlled House could come today Friday May 27, 2011.

Republicans on the committee rejected 16 attempts by the minority Democrats to limited drilling on state land or to add protections. Read more »