Battle Over Gas Exports Pits Manufacturers Against Energy Industry

"[Dow Chemical’s chief executive, Andrew N. Liveris] is spearheading a public campaign against increased exports of natural gas, which he sees as a threat to a manufacturing renaissance in the United States, not to mention his own company’s bottom line," report Clifford Krauss and Nelson D. Schwartz. "But many others say such exports would provide far more benefits to the country than drawbacks, all part of a transformation that promises to increase the nation’s weight in the global economy."

"The battle over natural gas exports reflects just how starkly the nation’s economic landscape is being reshaped by newfound energy supplies — much of the discoveries in the form of oil and gas being freed up by unconventional methods like horizontal drilling combined with hydraulic fracturing," they add. "By 2020, new oil and gas production could increase the country’s economic output by 2 to 4 percent beyond what it otherwise would be, add as many as 1.7 million jobs and perhaps reduce the bill for energy imports to zero, according to a report by the McKinsey Global Institute."

"But that windfall is at risk if the government permits natural gas exports to increase quickly, Mr. Liveris warns."