PITTSBURGH — Gas industry insiders got their first close look at the $6 billion Shell cracker plant beginning to take shape on the banks of the Ohio River during the second day of the Shale Insight conference.

While considering that pending economic bounty, they also got a look at parts of the world that lack basic, reliable electricity and pondered how natural gas might help those poor nations advance.

The $6 billion Shell plant in Beaver County, 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, will produce 6,000 construction jobs and 600 permanent jobs, said Michael Marr, Shell’s business integration leader.

Bradley Ritts, Stanford University’s Natural Gas Initiative managing director, talked about powering poor nations — perhaps with gas.

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