GCEO study says Gulf Coast energy-related capital, LNG, on the rise

A recent Gulf Coast Energy Outlook (GCEO) report by the Louisiana State University Center for Energy Studies estimates as much as $190 billion could be spent on energy-related capital development in the U.S. Gulf Coast region for 2021 through 2029, with a continued shift in investments away from chemical industry activities and toward liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities.

The study said Louisiana leads the region in total energy manufacturing capital investment potentials with as much as $125.6 billion by 2029.

"A growing number of these investments will be dedicated to industrial decarbonization activities such as blue ammonia, blue hydrogen, and other biofuels," said the authors of the report. "Texas holds a distant second place to Louisiana in projected energy manufacturing investment announcements."

The  2022  GCEO  approximates as  much  as  $57  billion  in  new  Texas  energy  manufacturing investments with a close to even distribution between LNG-export related investments ($26.3 billion) and new chemical/refining related investments ($30.7 billion). There is also about $8 billion in LNG related investments announced for the Mississippi and Alabama region.

Additionally, the report projects employment in the petroleum refining and chemical manufacturing sectors in Louisiana and Texas to continue to rebound in 2022 after hitting a trough in 2020.

"Over the next year, [we] anticipate both states to continue to gain back some of these COVID-induced job losses," the authors said. "By the end of 2022, Louisiana is expected to gain back about 4,300 jobs relative to the trough in February of 2021. Texas is forecasted to regain 32,800 upstream jobs from its trough in September of 2020."