Full Title: US Manufacturing and LNG Exports: Economic Contributions to the US Economy and Impacts on US Natural Gas Prices
Author(s): Ken Ditzel, Jeff Plewes, Bob Broxson
Publisher(s): Charles River Associates
Publication Date: February 1, 2013
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
A manufacturing renaissance is under way in the United States, and it is being driven by a favorable natural gas price environment not seen for over a decade. Since 2010, there have been announcements of more than 95 major capital investments in the gas-intensive manufacturing sector representing more than $90 billion in new spending and hundreds of thousands of new jobs all related to our domestic natural gas price advantage. The low gas prices are also sparking interest in large- scale LNG exports to higher-priced markets, such as Europe and Asia. While high volumes of LNG exports would increase profits to some participants in the oil and gas sector, the resulting increase in domestic gas prices may disrupt the growth in domestic manufacturing, natural gas vehicles, and electricity generators. Consequently, the United States is faced with a critical policy decision: how to balance demand for LNG exports versus realization of domestic value added opportunities.