10/16/2012

Columbus Business First --

Ohio’s Utica shale play must really be the next big thing now that CNBC’s manic money man Jim Cramer is coming to do a show about the state’s oil and natural gas boom.

The host of Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer will report live from Canton on Thursday for a special edition of his program.

The broadcast from Timken Co.’s (NYSE:TKR) Faircrest Steel Plant will air at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. as part of Cramer’s “Invest in America” series.

Cramer also will appear on NBC’s Todayshow to cover the shale gas story. In addition, CNBC reporter Phil LeBeau will report live from Youngstown that day for the network’s Business Day programming and will be on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams.

I got a kick out of the CNBC press release about Cramer’s visit to the Buckeye state. It spits out the sort of hype we’ve come to expect about the potential of the emerging Utica shale play in eastern Ohio. Here’s an excerpt:

“The natural gas and oil industries have exploded in growth, generating $1.7 billion in sales for the state of Ohio. And the Utica shale is estimated to have reserves of up to 15.7 trillion cubic feet (of natural gas). Could this be the solution to three of the U.S.’s biggest problems – unemployment, an addiction to foreign oil and a faltering economy? The Utica shale may serve not only as a pipeline to economic renewal, but could also shape our nation’s energy future.”

Then it adds Cramer will cover “every angle of the companies in the area working to keep the American dream alive.”

I bet he will.