Shale gas use growing in US. - Although the financial crisis has dragged the US into recession, shale gas production has experienced “a beneficial counter cyclical effect” according to IHS Global Insight. Shale gas currently accounts for 34% of natural gas production and is expected to reach 43% in 2015 and 60% by 2035. The development of this industry helped make a contribution worth $76.9 billion to GDP in 2010. This figure is expected to reach 118.2 billion in 2015 and 231.1 billion in 2035. Planned investment is huge: 3,200 billion between 2010 and 2035. This industry also created 600,000 direct and indirect jobs in 2010, a figure that is expected to climb to 870,000 in 2015 and 1.6 million in 2035. (IL/trans/fl)