Energy & Chemicals

The availability of shale gas in Ohio has dramatically changed the national energy and petrochemical landscape, leading to billions of dollars in investment from energy-producing companies as well as downstream producers of adhesives, coatings and chemicals.

Key facts

• Ohio shale-related investment totaled $70 billion from 2011 to 2018.
• Four major oil refineries are located in Ohio, with a combined capacity of 558,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
• Eight operational ethanol plants produce more than 550 million gallons of ethanol per year.
• More than 17,000 petrochemical and downstream converters operate in Ohio.
• Over 88,000 Ohioans are employed in the energy and petrochemical sector.
• Ohio-based First Solar is the world's largest thin film manufacturer of photovoltaic modules.

National position

• First in growth for natural gas production
• Seventh largest crude oil-refining capacity
• Eighth largest ethanol producer
• First in polymer output
• Largest supplier of polyolefin

Major players

• BP-Husky Refining, Husky Energy, Marathon and PBF Energy operate refineries in Ohio.
• Major industrial chemical, coatings and polymer companies include AmSty, Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Lubrizol, Mitsubishi, PolyOne, PPG and Sherwin-Williams.
• American Electric Power and FirstEnergy lead power generation.

Top employers

• Marathon - 9,200
• American Electric Power - 6,000
• Sherwin-Williams - 5,045
• Goodyear Tire & Rubber - 3,300

Recent trends

• Ohio's natural gas industry has been the biggest driver of the nation's energy growth in in recent years. Natural gas production was about 19 times greater in 2016 than in 2011, due to the Utica and Marcellus shale formations. Drilling and extraction is expected to continue for decades.
• Wind provides the largest share (48 percent) of Ohio's electricity generation from renewable resources, and net generation from wind has increased substantially since construction of Ohio's first utility-scale wind farm in 2004.
• Employment in the energy industry is expected to rise by 20 percent from 2015 levels, with the largest percentage growth coming from solar.

 

Back to the Online Newsroom