MW: U.S. energy boom boosts family income, U.S. trade, IHS study says
By Claudia Assis
The U.S. energy boom will trickle down as a windfall for families, boost trade, and contribute to increased U.S. competitiveness, consultancy IHS said in a report released Wednesday.
The “revolution” in unconventional oil and gas exploration in the U.S. will increase disposable income by more than $2,700 per household and boost U.S. trade by more than $164 billion in 2020, the report said.
Oil and gas production will support more than 3.3 million jobs by 2020 and nearly 3.9 million jobs by 2025, IHS estimated. The boom currently supports more than 2.1 million jobs, it said.
Unconventional oil and gas activity increased disposable income by an average $1,200 per U.S. family in 2012 as savings from lower energy costs were passed along to consumers as lower energy bills as well as lower costs for goods and services, the consultancy said.
“The unconventional oil and gas revolution is not only an energy story, it is also a very big economic story that flows throughout the U.S. economy in a way that is only now becoming apparent,” Daniel Yergin, a vice chairman and author at IHS, said in a media release.
Low-cost energy supplies also help revitalize U.S. manufacturing, “creating a competitive advantage for U.S. industry and for the United States itself,” he added.
Primary beneficiaries include makers of energy-related chemicals, aluminum, glass, and cement, as well as the refining and food industries, according to IHS.
The manufacturing sector will become increasingly connected to the unconventional oil and gas developments, IHS added. The energy boom will support additional manufacturing jobs to the tune of more than 460,000 jobs in 2020, rising to nearly 515,000 by 2025.
“Manufacturing jobs will represent one out of every eight jobs supported by unconventional oil and gas development during that time,” the study says.
Unconventional oil and gas includes production from oil sands, shale formations, and deep water. Improvements in techniques and technologies such as hydraulic fracturing and ultra-deepwater exploration have opened up vast oil and gas fields in the U.S. and elsewhere.
