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Released November 21, 2019 | SUGAR LAND
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Despite some forecasts of a slowdown in Houston's economic growth in 2020 due to lower oil prices and other factors, the region still has plenty of planned projects on its plate. Industrial Info is tracking more than $18 billion in planned project construction kickoffs next year in the Greater Houston area of Texas, including a host of big-ticket natural gas-related and chemical projects.
Click on the image at right for a graph showing planned kickoff activity for 2020 in the Greater Houston area by industry.
Robert Gilmer, director of the Institute for Regional Forecasting at the University of Houston's Bauer College of Business, spoke on Tuesday about Houston's economic future at a symposium titled "Houston and Recession: Likely or Not? Domestic or Global? And Why Should We Care?"
A near-term recession was not in the base case forecast for Houston's economic future, according to the Institute for Regional Forecasting, but even without a recession, oil producers failed to deliver profits in 2019, leading to lower stock prices for producers and service companies. The industry also has faced a credit crunch, resulting in bankruptcies and stock delistings for some energy-based companies.
Despite those problems, Gilmer was quoted by the Houston Chronicle as saying that the economic outlook for Houston in 2020 wasn't bad, given the circumstances, although growth would be slower.
In an October 24 article published in Forbes, Gilmer said that the slip in oil prices from $65 per barrel in 2018 to $57 per barrel in the first nine months of 2019, along with other factors, signaled a "modest downshift" in economic growth. However, he said that "all bets are off" regarding the future if the oil market problems are accompanied by a global or national recession. Regarding the chances for a recession in the near future, he said that while the U.S. economy has slowed, it is not struggling.
A downward shift in oil prices to an average of $55 per barrel, and the containment of credit problems to relatively small number of oil and service-related firms, should have only "limited consequences" for Houston's economy, Gilmer said in the Forbes article. Under such circumstances, annual job growth in Houston would fall from nearly 62,900 jobs in 2019 to 56,300 jobs by 2022.
The Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metropolitan area, also known as Greater Houston, sprawls across nine counties, according to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.
Chemical Processing Industry projects dominate planned Greater Houston kickoffs in 2020, with a combined value of more than $7 billion. Among these is a world-class methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) unit addition at Covestro AG's (Leverkusen, Germany) Baytown Industrial Chemicals site. The unit would produce about 500,000 tons per year of MDI. KBR Incorporated (NYSE:KBR) (Houston) is providing engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) for the project, which is planned to kick off construction in mid-2020, with completion in fourth-quarter 2024. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.
Oil and gas production projects planned for a 2020 kickoff amount to nearly $5.8 billion. Freeport LNG (Houston) plans to begin construction early next year on Train IV of its Quintana Island development. Following its planned completion in early 2023, the train would convert natural gas from the Eagle Ford shale into 5.1 million tons per year of LNG. Train 1 began production in the second half of this year, and construction of trains 2 and 3 is expected to be completed in 2020. Together, the four trains would produce more than 20 million tons per year of LNG. For more information on Train 4, see Industrial Info's project report. For related information, see October 30, 2019, article - As Sempra, Mitsui Reach Agreement on LNG Projects, U.S. Natural Gas Exports Grow.
Oil & Gas Pipelines projects with a combined value of $2.2 billion are planned to commence construction in 2020 in Greater Houston.
Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. (NYSE:MMP) (Tulsa, Oklahoma) and Navigator Energy Services (Dallas, Texas) are conducting market analysis for the Voyager Pipeline, a joint venture project that would move up to 400,000 barrels per day of light crude oil and condensate from storage facilities in Cushing, Oklahoma, and from Midland, Texas, to Magellan's East Houston Terminal. The project would kick off in third-quarter 2020 and be completed in late 2021. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.
Robert Gilmer, director of the Institute for Regional Forecasting at the University of Houston's Bauer College of Business, spoke on Tuesday about Houston's economic future at a symposium titled "Houston and Recession: Likely or Not? Domestic or Global? And Why Should We Care?"
A near-term recession was not in the base case forecast for Houston's economic future, according to the Institute for Regional Forecasting, but even without a recession, oil producers failed to deliver profits in 2019, leading to lower stock prices for producers and service companies. The industry also has faced a credit crunch, resulting in bankruptcies and stock delistings for some energy-based companies.
Despite those problems, Gilmer was quoted by the Houston Chronicle as saying that the economic outlook for Houston in 2020 wasn't bad, given the circumstances, although growth would be slower.
In an October 24 article published in Forbes, Gilmer said that the slip in oil prices from $65 per barrel in 2018 to $57 per barrel in the first nine months of 2019, along with other factors, signaled a "modest downshift" in economic growth. However, he said that "all bets are off" regarding the future if the oil market problems are accompanied by a global or national recession. Regarding the chances for a recession in the near future, he said that while the U.S. economy has slowed, it is not struggling.
A downward shift in oil prices to an average of $55 per barrel, and the containment of credit problems to relatively small number of oil and service-related firms, should have only "limited consequences" for Houston's economy, Gilmer said in the Forbes article. Under such circumstances, annual job growth in Houston would fall from nearly 62,900 jobs in 2019 to 56,300 jobs by 2022.
The Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metropolitan area, also known as Greater Houston, sprawls across nine counties, according to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.
Chemical Processing Industry projects dominate planned Greater Houston kickoffs in 2020, with a combined value of more than $7 billion. Among these is a world-class methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) unit addition at Covestro AG's (Leverkusen, Germany) Baytown Industrial Chemicals site. The unit would produce about 500,000 tons per year of MDI. KBR Incorporated (NYSE:KBR) (Houston) is providing engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) for the project, which is planned to kick off construction in mid-2020, with completion in fourth-quarter 2024. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.
Oil and gas production projects planned for a 2020 kickoff amount to nearly $5.8 billion. Freeport LNG (Houston) plans to begin construction early next year on Train IV of its Quintana Island development. Following its planned completion in early 2023, the train would convert natural gas from the Eagle Ford shale into 5.1 million tons per year of LNG. Train 1 began production in the second half of this year, and construction of trains 2 and 3 is expected to be completed in 2020. Together, the four trains would produce more than 20 million tons per year of LNG. For more information on Train 4, see Industrial Info's project report. For related information, see October 30, 2019, article - As Sempra, Mitsui Reach Agreement on LNG Projects, U.S. Natural Gas Exports Grow.
Oil & Gas Pipelines projects with a combined value of $2.2 billion are planned to commence construction in 2020 in Greater Houston.
Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. (NYSE:MMP) (Tulsa, Oklahoma) and Navigator Energy Services (Dallas, Texas) are conducting market analysis for the Voyager Pipeline, a joint venture project that would move up to 400,000 barrels per day of light crude oil and condensate from storage facilities in Cushing, Oklahoma, and from Midland, Texas, to Magellan's East Houston Terminal. The project would kick off in third-quarter 2020 and be completed in late 2021. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.
