As the IMF points out, the revolution in the U.S. has caused natural gas prices to fall sharply there, even as they have risen in Europe and Japan. … Earlier this year a paper released by the U.S. Federal Reserve calculated that these price variations had boosted the output of American manufacturers by 3 per cent since 2006, while raising investment by 10 percent and jobs by 2 per cent; the impact on specific energy-linked industries was far higher. However, the IMF’s research suggests that the difference in energy costs has boosted U.S. manufacturing exports by 6 percent, and it argues that each 10 percent fall in the relative price of natural gas in the U.S. will boost U.S. industrial production by a further 0.7 percent, compared to that of Europe.

At first glance, this 0.7 per cent differential may not sound important. But if this gap is maintained over several years, the impact for competitiveness and output will be significant. It is not just the productivity statistics that matter; what the shale gas revolution has also done is create something that the IMF report does not mention: a transatlantic gap in psychology. For many business leaders in America today, shale gas has not merely lowered energy costs; it has also fostered new respect for technological innovation. Think about it. A decade ago it seemed almost impossible to imagine that America might ever break its dependence on Middle East oil imports, let alone see some rust-belt industries become competitive.

And writing in the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader this week, MSC president Dave Spigelmyer highlights these clear benefits:

Thanks to responsible shale development, our nation has shifted from a position of scarcity, weakness and compounding dependence on unstable regions of the world to meet our growing energy needs to an outlook that’s grounded in abundance, enhanced security as well as geopolitical and economic strength.

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