HARRISBURG — The development of natural gas in Pennsylvania's portion of the Marcellus Shale has the potential to create 212,000 new jobs in the next 10 years in the state.

And in the next 18 months, these activities are slated to create more than $1.8 billion in state and local tax revenues.

These are among the key findings released today by professors from Penn State University in an update to their initial jobs and economic impact study issued last July.

This study was done for the Marcellus Shale Coalition.

Kathryn Klaber, president and executive director of the coalition said, "Last year alone, Marcellus producers paid more than $1.7 billion to landowners across the state, and spent more than $4.5 billion total to make these resources available. By the end of this year, that number is expected to double."

Butler County is on top of the Marcellus Shale.

According to the Penn State study, the continued exploration in the state over the next decade is expected to bring online an additional 13.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day, nearly seven times the amount Pennsylvanians currently use on a daily basis.

This increase in daily natural gas output can result in more than 211,000 new jobs in the state, along with $18.85 billion in value added resources for the state's economy.