ExxonMobil to Invest $20B in U.S. Manufacturing Capacity

Positioning to take advantage of what it calls “the American energy revolution” ExxonMobil is planning to invest $20 billion to expand its U.S. refining and chemical manufacturing operations along the Gulf Coast, the Houston headquartered firm announced Monday.

“The United States is a leading producer of oil and natural gas, which is incentivizing U.S. manufacturing to invest and grow,” the company’s chairman and chief executive officer Darren Woods said in a press release. “We are using new, abundant domestic energy supplies to provide products to the world at a competitive advantage resulting from lower costs and abundant raw materials. In this way, an upstream technology breakthrough has led to a downstream manufacturing renaissance.”

Under the investment, 11 proposed and existing sites – including chemical refining, lubricant, and liquefied gas projects – will generate “thousands” of jobs and some $20 billion in economic activity increases in Texas and Louisiana, according to Woods, who announced the investment at the CERAWEEK 2017 conference on Monday.

“All told, we expect these 11 projects to create over 45,000 jobs. Many of these are high-skilled, high-paying jobs averaging about $100,000 a year. And these jobs will have a multiplier effect, creating many more jobs in the communities that service these new investments,” Woods stated.

With the expansion, ExxonMobil said the new manufacturing capacity will primarily serve overseas markets. Exports of chemicals linked to shale gas are forecasted to reach $123 billion by 2030, according to the American Chemistry Council (ACC).

“These projects are export machines, generating products that high-growth nations need to support larger populations with higher standards of living,” said Woods. “Those overseas markets are the motivation behind our investments. The supply is here; the demand is there. We want to keep connecting those dots.”

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