The U.S. chemical industry has invested $164 billion in capital projects as a result of the shale boom, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) said Wednesday. ACC said 40% of those projects — including new facilities, expansions and facility restarts — are completed or underway, while 55% are in the planning phase.
That level of capital spending could yield $105 billion per year in new chemical industry output and support more than three quarters of a million jobs in the U.S. by 2023, ACC said. Suppliers would add 357,000 jobs in that scenario.
In presenting the findings at an energy event, ACC energy policy director Owen Kean urged the federal government to avoid restricting drilling on federal and private lands and expedite permitting of pipeline projects.
“We need the right regulatory and policy approaches in order to fully realize the potential of shale gas as an engine of manufacturing growth,” Kean said.
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