WASHINGTON, D.C.-The third and final phase of a comprehensive study co-sponsored by the U.S. Chamber's Institute for 21st Century Energy demonstrates that the impact of shale energy production on America's economy goes well beyond the energy industry itself-but it could be in jeopardy if the U.S. adopts more restrictive policies or regulations.
Volume Three of America's New Energy Future: The Unconventional Oil and Gas Revolution and the U.S. Economy, produced by the leading independent global energy research firm IHS, focuses specifically on manufacturing, chemical and other "downstream" activities. The study shows that shale supports nearly 377,000 jobs in these areas, in addition to the 1.7 million jobs supported by shale energy development-for a total of 2.1 million jobs.
"The final phase of the IHS Study confirms that shale is making a positive impact across our economy," said Karen Harbert, president and CEO of the Energy Institute. "The study shows that shale energy development increased the real disposable income of the average American household by more than $1200 in 2012, providing further evidence that energy is America's true stimulus, creating more jobs than any other industry today."
Overall, $216 billion will be invested in downstream activities like manufacturing and midstream activities like transportation from 2012-2025 as a result of shale. Manufacturing output is expected to increase by $258 billion in 2020 and $328 billion in 2025, while increased industrial production is projected to generate $180 billion per year in additional net trade.
Combined with jobs related to producing shale energy, shale will be responsible for 3.9 million jobs by 2025, and produce $1.6 trillion in government revenue-if new regulations don't hamper shale energy production.
Volume Three of the study also includes a Low Production Case, which measures the potential loss of economic contributions from a more restrictive regulatory environment, based on scenarios from the Department Energy's advisory National Petroleum Council. The results reveal that with more regulations, 1.4 million fewer jobs would be created by 2015, and 2.8 million fewer by 2025.
"While shale energy development holds a great deal of promise, the movement to restrict shale development with further regulations places it all in jeopardy," said Harbert. "By continuing to push unnecessary federal regulations when strong state regulations already exist, the federal government is risking the only reliable sector of job growth in the entire economy."
The Low Production Case conducted by IHS also shows that U.S. GDP would be $127 billion less than expected in 2015 and over $300 billion less than expected in 2025. Tax revenues would be reduced by nearly $535 billion over the entire 2012-2025 study period.
The U.S. Chamber's Energy Institute partnered with the American Petroleum Institute, American Chemistry Council, America's Natural Gas Alliance, National Association of Manufacturers, Natural Gas Supply Association, the Fertilizer Institute, Rio Tinto and the Society of the Plastics Industry to sponsor the study.
All three phases of the study are available here: energyxxi.org/shale