Governor Earl Ray Tomblin and Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette today issued statements following an announcement from Range Resources that the company has committed to supplying ethane for Project ASCENT.
“This announcement marks another major step forward toward the development of the ASCENT cracker complex,” Gov. Tomblin said. “That will mean thousands of construction jobs at ASCENT itself; and potentially thousands more jobs turning ASCENT’s polyethylene into products for consumers and businesses worldwide. I salute Range Resources and ASCENT for their commitment to this transformative project.”
“The administration has worked hard to convince industry of the importance of committing some of the resources extracted from underneath our state to manufacturing projects like ASCENT,” Secretary Burdette said. “The leadership of Range Resources is important to that effort. The announcement means West Virginia natural gas will stay here and create West Virginia jobs. We’re well on our way to making our abundance of shale gas the foundation for decades of prosperity in our state.”
