More Shale Gas Job Numbers

Different day, different organization counting job growth. I'd like to see all these estimates side-by-side. But I will settle for a national picture, even a pro-industry one:

The Independent Petroleum Association of America projects as many as 200,000 new jobs in the energy patch from hundreds of oil and gas producers in 2011. ...

... Among the hotter areas for employment growth: Some 50,000 job additions this year are expected for the Barnett shale of Texas, and 48,000 in the Marcellus shale of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and New York, according to the IPAA.

Besides the Barnett and Marcellus shales, U.S. energy companies plan to beef up rolls in the Haynesville shale of Texas and Louisiana, the Eagle Ford of South Texas, the Bakken of North Dakota and Utica formations of Ohio.

If I understand the press release correctly, about a quarter of all the new energy jobs for 2011 will be found in the Marcellus region. That's on par with the Barnett play. What that means to the overall Pennsylvania economy is another story. I'm trying to put the Marcellus Shale drilling in a larger context. In the United States and around the world, it is a big deal with Pittsburgh at the center.