(203d) Regional Impact of Shale Gas Related Manufacturing Investments in the U.S

The availability of cheap natural gas has made the United States an attractive location for manufacturing projects. Between 2012 and 2020, announced manufacturing projects in the U.S. will result in nearly $122 billion of economic investment and over 150,000 permanent jobs. The analysis on which this presentation is based broke down the country into eight regions– Gulf Coast, Northeast, Southeast, Mid-continental/Southwest, Midwest, Rockies/ Great Plains, Northwest, and West Coast –by shale basins to analyze the geographic distribution of shale-gas related manufacturing investments and their potential economic impacts. Detailed analysis for each geographical region includes granular data on investment dollars and job creation for selected manufacturing sectors – including chemicals, iron & steel, plastics & rubber, and petroleum refining.

The presence of existing capital (both physical and human) was found to be the most significant driver for regional economic investment, greater even than the proximity to accessible shale resources. Recoverable shale gas in the Northeast is more than 4-fold that in the Gulf Coast, however announced investments in the Gulf Coast is nearly 10-fold that of the Northeast. The Gulf Coast accounts for 66% of all U.S. manufacturing investments with over $80 billion identified in the region, of which $72 billion is in the chemicals industry. Improving the infrastructure in shale resource rich regions and mitigating the environmental concerns surrounding shale extraction techniques will support the continued growth of manufacturing across the U.S. Additionally, manufacturing investments in sparsely populated regions – such as those surrounding the Bakken –may be contingent on the ability to attract and retain workers.

This presentation is based upon work in a forthcoming research paper performed under contract for Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Energy.