The Exxon jobs stimulus in Texas and Louisiana

Fuel Fix:
Exxon Mobil highlighted its plans for spending $20 billion and creating 45,000 jobs, mostly during construction, over the next decade as it builds a “manufacturing powerhouse” along the Gulf Coast, CEO Darren Woods said Monday.

Woods, a keynote speaker at the 36th annual CERA Week oil and gas conference in Houston, said the projects span 11 proposed and existing sites in Texas and Louisiana. Many of the new jobs will be high-skilled with salaries that could average $100,000 a year, he said, according to a transcript of his speech released early.

Many of the projects were previously announced, including chemical and plastics projects near Houston, refining expansions in Beaumont and Baton Rouge, and a joint venture with Saudi Arabia to build a new petrochemical plant that’s tentatively scheduled for the Corpus Christi region. Out of nearly 47,000 jobs created, 35,000 are temporary construction positions and 12,000 are full-time, permanent jobs.

READ MORE: Exxon increases bet on shale

The shale revolution and its newfound volumes of oil and gas are pushing the company to expand or build chemical, refining, lubricant and liquefied natural gas projects, Woods said. Most of the new capacity is targeted at export markets, especially those in Asia.
...
This is an example of how the shale revolution has stimulated economic growth and jobs as well as helping the US balance of trade.  It is also an example of how unleashing the private sector can be more stimulating for the economy than top-down control freak government.

Many of these projects are for the petrochemical business.  This is an area where there are no alternatives to fossil fuel and it provides needed products from plastics to fertilizer.  The anti-energy left's "keep it in the ground" policies would make this growth impossible.

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