CANONSBURG, Pa. –A conference on oil and gas development in the Marcellus and Utica shales and opportunities with the proposed Appalachian Storage Hub will be held June 7 in Canonsburg, Pa. The Appalachian Storage Hub Conference will be presented by Shale Directories President Joe Barone and TopLine Analytics CEO Tom Gellrich and will be held at the Hilton Garden at Southpointe in Canonsburg. The sponsor is the Washington County (Pa.) Chamber of Commerce.

The multi-billion-dollar Appalachian Storage Hub takes advantage of the geologic formations to store natural gas for eventual distribution to markets. Three sites are under consideration in West Virginia, including the Bens Run area in Tyler County. The conference is designed for those who would benefit as the Appalachian Storage Hub moves forward, including construction and engineering companies, surveyors, law firms, suppliers, investors and government, spokesman Jack Wollitz said.

Topics will include:

* Appalachian Basin shale gas revolution and development of major chemical processing capabilities,

* The need for the storage hub and its economic growth potential,

* What state governments are doing and what still must be done,

* Opportunities for investment,

* Comparisons between the Appalachian Basin and the Gulf Coast.

Among the panelists will be: Tom Gellrich, CEO, TopLine Analytics; Tim Hanley, vice president, Mountaineer Storage; Brent Breon, vice president business development, Blue Racer; Heather Rose-Glowacki, director, American Chemistry Council; Robert Johnson, president, A Different Kind of Lobbyist; Curtis Wilkerson, president, Orion Strategies; Chad Riley, CEO, Thrasher Group; Joe Bozada, CFO/COO, Appalachian Development Group; Jorge Pelaez, Benning & Scattergood; Cole Claiborn, associate director, ORIX USA; Damian Georgino, special counsel Evershelds – Sutherland; Robert M. Kolaczynski Jr., co-founder and managing partner, Freestone Industries; Tom Gellrich, CEO, TopLine Analytics; Jerry James, president, Artex Oil; Taylor Robinson, president, PLG Consulting.

“The Appalachian Storage Hub opportunities are real. They are not just on our region’s wish list, they are happening,” Barone said.

Gellrich said the conference will feature experts who understand the significance of the Appalachian Storage Hub and the critical role it will play in reducing costs and enhancing the logistics associated with processing gas to produce materials that will help drive regional and national economic growth. Around the world, 130 companies are operating ethylene crackers and most are headquartered outside of the U.S., Gellrich said.

“Many are in locations with high capital and raw material costs, so they are looking at our Utica and Marcellus shale as having tremendous potential,” he said. “The Appalachian Storage Hub Conference will cover this topic head-on with facts and in-depth discussion to bring light to the development under way and that which is still to come.”