NAM study cites manufacturing benefits of oil pipeline construction

New crude oil pipelines could significantly benefit US manufacturers and the general economy as they are constructed, a study commissioned by the National Association of Manufactures concluded.

“For manufacturers, this study illustrates yet another reason why the administration, Congress, and our state and local leaders should be encouraging crude oil pipeline investment,” said Ross Eisenberg, NAM vice-president, energy and resources policy, on Dec. 10 as the IHS Economics report was released.

Among its highlights, the study found that in 2015:

• Another 6,805 miles of domestic crude transmission pipelines were contracted at a cost of $11.57 billion, on top of 61,379 miles of US onshore crude pipelines operating at yearend 2014.

• Crude pipelines supported 276,497 construction and maintenance jobs, including 26,884 manufacturing positions.

• Crude pipelines contributed $31.4 billion to the gross domestic product, including $4 billion from manufacturing.

• Top employing industries for US crude pipelines include fabricated metals, machinery, chemicals, nonmetallic minerals, and primary metals.

• At least 66 different manufacturing subsectors, out of 86 total, have benefited from US construction of crude pipelines by $10 million or more, including iron and steel, fabricated metals, cement, machinery, and paints and coatings.

“Manufacturers benefit from both pipeline construction and pipeline maintenance, and as our network of these crude oil pipelines grows, so does manufacturing opportunity,” Eisenberg said.

Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].