Vincent DiCosmo, senior vice president of Targa Resources.
The numbers, by any measurement, are impressive: According to an analysis conducted by The Perryman Group, Texas' oil and gas sector is responsible for 2 million jobs, $120 billion in personal income and $200 billion in economic benefits. In terms of direct employment, the industry is also responsible for 500,000 jobs, $50 billion in personal income and $80 billion in economic benefits. It has provided 1.4 million jobs, $70 billion in personal income and $120 billion in indirect employment.
According to Vincent DiCosmo, senior vice president of Targa Resources, it is most important to think about that first "big number" as it relates to oil and gas.
"When we look at total employment in the state of Texas that is somehow connected to the oil and gas industry, not necessarily just midstream but oil and gas industry, it's around 2.2 million jobs," DiCosmo said.
With more than 150 private terminals and $300 billion in capital, the Houston Ship Channel receives more than 18,700 ships every year, making it the busiest port in the U.S. That's more than the ports of Los Angeles; Long Beach, California; and New York combined.
Perhaps more staggering is the fact that the Houston Ship Channel's impact on the energy and petrochemical industry cannot be denied: Energy and petrochemical account for more than 80 percent of traffic through the channel, and industry projections indicate those numbers are only going to get bigger and better.
"What does it take to enable this growth?" DiCosmo asked in a session titled "Midstream Growth and Impact on the Houston Ship Channel" at the Gulf Coast Industry Forum held recently in Pasadena, Texas. "There is significant infrastructure that has to continue to be built. We realize that."
DiCosmo encouraged those 150 private terminal owners to invest in deepening and widening the Houston Ship Channel.
"We're working alongside the Greater Houston Partnership, the Port of Houston and all of the elected officials that are out there," he said.
An "accelerated plan" is necessary in order to make this happen, because it is essential to maintain two-way traffic along the Houston Ship Channel, DiCosmo continued.
A big project requires big money
"Houston is the epicenter today for energy, petrochemical and the growth of the global export. We can't [continue] that without widening and deepening this channel," DiCosmo said. "It's got to happen to maintain ⦠the dominance we want to have in the energy sector and around the world. We've got to have a wider and deeper ship channel."
DiCosmo said he considers the Houston Ship Channel's expansion to be "the most important public and private partnership for the future of this country, bar none." In fact, he believes it's the most important waterway in the world.
Initial estimates place the cost of the channel expansion project at $1 billion, DiCosmo said.
"It's a huge project, but if you think that this channel is worth $2 billion per day, $1 billion is the equivalent of half a day in terms of what we're trying to raise to get it done," DiCosmo said. "The acceleration to get it done now means we can start digging in 2021. If we miss this date, we're probably on a 15-year track. It would be tremendously detrimental to wait."
DiCosmo said the deepening and widening of the channel is also a matter of national security.
"It's about national security, because by 2025 we will have outpaced Saudi Arabia in terms of total crude oil exports. What we will be exporting will be larger than all the production in the Middle East," he said. "It is, without a doubt, what we need to do. We need a wider and deeper Houston Ship Channel. We can't wait."
