CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Development of the natural gas-rich Marcellus shale can create thousands of jobs and result in other economic benefits but must be done carefully, the American Petroleum Institute's chief economist said.

"We've admittedly been slow in terms of our outreach," said John Felmy, chief economist with the American Petroleum Institute - a national trade association representing the oil and natural gas industry.

"Basically, technology overcame us," he said. "We haven't done as effective a job as we can to explain the technology and to explain that the technology itself hasn't caused water problems but other aspects of drilling and cementing have to be done properly."

Natural gas drilling in the Appalachian basin has become a high-profile business during the past several years as companies learned how to drill horizontal wells and fracture the Marcellus shale to release natural gas.

The new drilling know-how is re-shaping the industry. There's talk that the Marcellus shale gas field may contain 500 trillion cubic feet of gas.

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