The American Petroleum Institute recently released our study of the potential economic and fiscal impact of offshore oil and natural gas activity on the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. Some highlights of the study include:
- Almost 17,000 new direct, indirect and induced jobs would be created in the area twenty years after initial lease sales in industries such as construction, healthcare & social assistance, retail, hospitality, and real estate.
- Oil and natural gas industry jobs pay above-average salaries and would account for $1 billion in new income in the region twenty years after initial lease sales.
- 82 percent of the jobs created are projected to pay wages above the average for the region.
- The average weekly salary for the oil and natural gas extraction industry is 60 percent above the regional average.