In an article published today in the Wall Street Journal:
"The U.S. boom in natural-gas production is luring investment from foreign manufacturers eager to tap a cheap, abundant supply of fuel and feedstocks.
Now inexpensive gas also is turning the U.S. into a magnet for investment by foreign companies. Energy consulting firm IHS Cera said in a report last month that cheaper gas would kick-start the nation's chemicals sector over the next dozen years, creating more than 300,000 jobs and driving half a trillion dollars in production through 2025.
Companies from the U.S. and abroad have invested or are planning to invest billions of dollars through the rest of the decade in plants that would churn out chemicals, fertilizers, plastics, metals and fuel from gas. Many foreign companies, alone or in joint ventures with U.S. partners, are taking advantage of gas that costs a fraction of what it does in Europe or Asia to expand production in the U.S.
Boston Consulting Group estimates that international companies will invest at least $50 billion through the end of the decade on projects that take advantage of low-price natural gas.
The U.S. petrochemicals sector, which turns raw materials such as natural gas or petroleum products into chemicals and plastics, is a particular target for investment. Chemicals accounted for one-quarter of the $160.5 billion in inbound foreign-direct investment in the U.S. last year, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.
To be sure, foreign investment tied to inexpensive gas represents only a small fraction of the total that overseas companies put into U.S. operations. Foreign direct investment, which varies widely from year to year, reached $198 billion last year, according to Commerce Department figures, so an additional $5 billion or $10 billion in investment in a given year would change the total only a few percentage points".
