Utica Summit Promotes Shale Industry in Ohio
Shale oil and gas industry experts will gather Oct. 13, in Canton, Ohio, for the Utica Summit III, a regional conference that will focus on natural gas production in the region.
The conference will focus on the benefits of the Utica shale’s downstream capabilities, as well as exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG), fueling electric power plants and ethane for plastics manufacturing. Attendees of the event also will hear about energy-sector investments from New York and European perspectives.
Utica Summit III will be Tuesday, Oct. 13, at the Kent State University Stark Campus in suburban Canton, Ohio, a city that bills itself as the Utica Capital for the role it has played as an exploration, engineering and service headquarters for the Utica shale development.
Co-producers of the conference are the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce, Shaledirectories.com and The Repository, Canton’s 200-year-old daily newspaper. This is the third Utica Summit produced by the three organizations, and the 10th significant oil and gas business development meeting under the partnership of the Chamber and Shaledirectories.com.
Because of its size (more than 1,600 members) and its location in the Utica play, the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce is the only Chamber in Ohio that consistently brings the oil and gas industry to speak to audiences of business people who are curious about the opportunities that come with the exploration of the Utica shale. Chamber seminars typically draw audience members to Ohio from Pennsylvania and West Virginia and other neighboring states.
Speakers at Utica Summit III include:
Jonathan Winslow, vice president of development at Advanced Power, the Swiss company building a natural gas-powered electricity generation plant in Carroll County, Ohio. Winslow also is project manager at another natural gas power plant scheduled to be built in Brockton, Massachusetts. He is a member of Advanced Power’s Senior Management Committee.
Bruce McKay, senior policy adviser, federal affairs, for Dominion, the parent of Dominion East Ohio Gas. McKay will talk about Dominion’s LNG export terminal under construction at Cove Point, Maryland, and the federal government’s decision to permit long-term export of natural gas.
Tom Gellrich, founder of TopLine Analytics in Philadelphia, who is constantly looking for the answers to these questions: Will an ethane cracker that can produce polyethylene be built in Ohio, Pennsylvania or West Virginia? If so, when? Gellrich studies the ethane market and promotes ethane as a catalyst for increased U.S. manufacturing growth.
Jason Hamman, founder of the Hamman Consulting Group, serves as the economic development consultant for Monroe County, Ohio. He helped Appalachian Resins of Houston to find a location for a $1 billion ethane cracker. Appalachian Resins previously planned to build the chemical processing plant in West Virginia.
Nicole Decker, equity sector strategist with UBS, the global wealth management firm. As recently as May 2015, Decker and a research colleague at UBS confirmed their confidence that the United States is on a path toward energy independence, despite the downturn in energy prices.
Frederick “Fritz” Shepperd, a native of Northeast Ohio who now heads Shepperd Investors AG in Zurich, Switzerland. He works with family offices and institutional investors. He will speak about the potential for European business investment in Ohio. He says his investors are “quiet” and willing to take the long view, and are interested in U.S energy-based investments.
For registration information, visit uticasummit.com.
For remaining sponsorship opportunities, contact David Kaminski, vice president for public policy and energy at the Canton Regional Chamber at davidk@cantonchamber.org or (330) 458-2059.
Tags: Utica Shale, Utica Summit
