The proliferation of fracking and the possibility of a long-running, shale-gas boom are destined to make winners and losers out of a lot of industries beyond the energy sector.

Though prices have been at rock bottom recently, the end to volatility in supply and price will improve operating costs for a number of industries — from utilities to chemicals to transportation — and likewise potentially damage others, such as coal and railroads.

“The industrial sector is going to be a big winner,” says Ron Denhardt, CEO of Strategic Energy & Economic Research, a Massachusetts-based energy consulting firm.

Manufacturing

For instance, paper and glass makers that can use either natural gas or oil to operate will benefit from more affordable energy, helping their cost structures, say experts.

Included in this group are energy-intensive industries such as glass, paper, and cement manufacturing.

Corning , which just introduced a new flexible glass product, seems a likely benefactor. Incremental demand for products required to extract the gas will help metal companies such as U.S. Steel , which invested $95 million in a new plant in Ohio to supply steel pipe to shale-gas extractors.

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