The Marcellus Midstream gas shale play represents a major opportunity for the U.S. natural gas industry, but midstream operators and pipeline companies will need to win the battle for public opinion and public policy, said Kathryn Z. Klaber, President and Executive Director of the Marcellus Shale Coalition.

Klaber offered her remarks to a packed auditorium of 800 attendees at Hart Energy’s Marcellus Midstream Conference & Exhibition, held at the Westin Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on April 20. The Marcellus Shale Coalition, founded in 2008, works to promote the responsible development of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale formation in Pennsylvania.

Klaber noted that development of the Marcellus can have a “multiplier effect” on the local economy and create more jobs, but noted that “with more jobs comes more scrutiny.” She also observed that “Pennsylvania is not Texas” – a comment that brought some amusement from the audience, which included a number of attendees from the Lone Star state. She noted that while Pennsylvania was the first oil state in the nation, and has a long history of extractive industries, “a lot has changed since Colonel Drake.” The extraction of resources “has come at a cost, and these costs are still visible in some cases,” Klaber noted. Within Pennsylvania, she commented, there is support for the natural gas industry, but there is also skepticism – even well-organized opposition.

Education and intelligent advocacy will be the key, said Klaber. “Hydraulic fracturing is not a new process, and the industry can help insure that public drinking water will be safe,” she said. These are the messages that the industry will need to get out to the public to win the battle for public support. “It’s our job to be a resource for education, for both the general public and elected leaders,” said Klaber. Opponents of Marcellus development are well-organized and have influence, she allowed, “but the facts are on our side.” Klaber concluded her presentation on a note of optimism for attendees. “The good news is that we can win,” she said.