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Don't try to turn left, across traffic, onto State Highway 40 in Vernal. It's difficult.



A year ago, Uintah County Economic Development Executive Director Tammie Lucero thought increased traffic on Highway 40 was a possible sign the economy was picking up there. She was right.





More Jobs than Workers

Today, Highway 40 is one busy road -- a true reflection that the economies in Uintah and Duchesne Counties are exploding. Unemployment is virtually non-existent. In fact, in these two Utah counties, businesses are struggling to fill available jobs. Retail and commercial developments are growing and the housing sector is starting to feel the pressure.





According to the latest employment estimates from the Utah Department of Workforce Services, Duchesne County leads the state in year over year non-farm employment growth at 9.7 percent. Uintah County is close behind at 6.6 percent, followed by Wasatch County at 6.3 percent. By comparison, Utah County experienced a 4.8 percent increase, followed by Davis County at 3.3 percent, Salt Lake County at 2.9 percent and Weber County at 1.2 percent.





Other rural counties enjoying increased employment growth include Grand (2.7 percent), Morgan (2.4 percent), Rich (2.1 percent), Washington (2.1 percent), Emery (1.7 percent), Kane (1.2 percent), Iron (1.1 percent), Garfield (.7 percent) and Sevier (.3 percent).





Economic Conflagration

One might call what's taking place in Uintah and Duchesne Counties an economic conflagration and it is largely due to a hot energy industry. There are currently about 6,000 operating wells in the Uintah Basin, but based on projected energy development in the region, that number could mushroom to more than 20,000 wells in the next three to four years, says Lucero. She adds that this activity does not reflect energy development on tribal lands, where some 5,000 – 6,000 wells operate and additional expansion is expected.





In one highly anticipated development, the Greater Natural Buttes infill project may be close to Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approval. Proposed by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation for an existing developed gas field in Uintah County, the project would add up to 3,675 new natural gas wells from 1,484 well pads over 10 years under the BLM's preferred alternative identified in the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS).





Lucero says Anadarko worked closely with conservation groups to develop a conservation agreement that would provide protections for the remarkable White River area while allowing the company to access energy resources. In this conservation agreement with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Anadarko agrees to limit the number of wells in and around the wilderness-quality lands of the White River and would lead to the creation of conservation easements along lands surrounding segments of the river.





Major Oil and Gas Projects

Other major oil and gas projects in the Uintah Basin include the following:

Furthermore, Lucero says three companies -- one from Canada, one from Estonia and one from the U.S. -- are working feverishly to obtain approval for the development of the Basin's rich supply of oil shale and oil sands. According to an estimate by the U.S. Geological Survey Oil Shale Assessment Team, the total in-place oil shale resource for the Uintah Basin is 1.32 trillion barrels. However, a movement is underfoot by the BLM to pull back hundreds of thousands of acres from potential oil shale leasing first approved by the Bush Administration.





Resolution

Lucero notes that Uintah and Duchesne Counties have banded together with counties in Wyoming and Colorado and signed a resolution demanding that the Obama administration reverse course on the leasing pullback.





The energy industry is an enormous contributor to the Uintah Basin economy via the direct and indirect jobs that it creates, but also in other ways. This week Newfield Exploration Company donated $250,000 to the Uintah Basin Applied Technology College (ATC) to help build additional classroom and lab space for the school's Petroleum Technology Certificate Program. The donation is timely, as Lucero says both the ATC and the Utah State University satellite campus in Vernal are bursting at their seams.





While the development of oil and gas resources continues to shape the Uintah and Duchesne County economies, Lucero says leaders in government, business and recreation, along with Ute Indian Tribal enterprises, are working hard to diversify the local economies by making the Basin more appealing to other commercial and industrial sectors as well.