North America's massive supplies of natural gas have brought new found wealth to the U.S. job market and are a bright spot in an otherwise struggling economy, a new report from forecaster IHS Global Insight shows.

In Washington, where President Barack Obama and lawmakers are fixated on job creation, the report, commissioned by a natural gas industry group, could fuel arguments from Republicans that federal regulators should stay out of ''fracking.''

The technique is used by drillers to blast gas from shale rock using sand, water and chemicals. Environmental groups worry fracking pollutes water, a charge that industry refutes.

IHS Global Insight's report focuses on the economic impacts of an industry already touted by Republicans as holding great promise, finding more than 600,000 U.S. jobs supported by shale gas.

Of those, 148,000 are directly involved with drilling, and each of those creates more than three spin-off jobs in supplies and services - a multiplier effect greater than seen in the financial and construction industries, said John Larson, a vice-president at the firm, and lead author of the study.
By 2015, total jobs are forecast to grow to 870,000, he said. "There are not a lot of industries right now in this economy adding net new jobs,'' Larson said in an interview.

"It clearly does stand in stark contrast to the broader economy and this long and painful recovery,'' he said.

Regulatory Status Quo
The shale gas industry is projected to contribute $118.2 billion to the economy by 2015, up 53% from last year's level, the consulting firm said in the report, which was commissioned by industry group America's Natural Gas Alliance.

The results were based on independent data and analysis, Larson said. ''Our hope here was to provide a piece of the discussion that we felt quite honestly was missing'' about what shale gas means to the economy, he said.

The report comes ahead of the 2012 presidential election, where persistent unemployment is the top issue and as federal environmental regulators weigh a larger role in the industry, currently monitored mainly at the state level.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is looking at new standards for wastewater discharged from gas wells, and is finalizing rules for air pollution from the wells.

It is also studying the impact of fracking on drinking water, and wants to propose a new rule to gather data about chemicals used in fracking.
Some states have also constrained drilling. The report assumed the status quo remains in place for regulations. For example, it did not forecast any new development in New York state, which is considering whether to lift a ban on fracking.

Lower electricity prices created by the bounty of natural gas has also helped the economy, leading to another 809,000 jobs by 2015, Larson said. Eventually, the new supplies could spur growth in the U.S. chemical industry, creating even more jobs, he said.

The industry also provided $18.6 billion in tax and royalty revenues in 2010 to cash-strapped government at all levels - equivalent to what the federal government spent on the Environmental Protection Agency and National Science Foundation combined, the report said.

Early in 2012, the firm plans to release a report on the economic impact from unconventional oil, such as that coming from North Dakota's Bakken development, and another on how growth in Canadian natural gas production has benefited U.S. suppliers.