[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 180 (Monday, November 6, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7008-S7009]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Natural Gas Liquid Storage

  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I would like to talk about an issue in my 
State of West Virginia--really my region--that is becoming very 
important, I think, to this country's energy security and prosperity.
  As we know, West Virginia has extensive natural gas liquid resources. 
Nearly a century ago, when these resources were discovered, the rapid 
growth that followed turned Central West Virginia into a national hub 
for the petrochemical industry. You know what, we have never looked 
back.
  Today, chemistry remains our State's second largest industry and 
directly impacts other major sectors like energy, biomedical 
engineering, and manufacturing. West Virginia is home to 140 different 
chemical companies that employ nearly 13,000 workers. West Virginia's 
share of GDP from the chemical industry is the sixth largest in the 
country, and these products are about one-quarter of our State's major 
international exports. We still have one of the highest concentrations 
of chemical, polymer, and resin manufacturers in the world.
  The sector is sort of a microcosm of the challenges and opportunities 
facing this important American industry during a time of fierce 
international competition. Estimates show, more than 100,000 workers in 
West Virginia already have the industrial skills to fill jobs in this 
sector, and there are thousands more who could easily be retrained to 
fill these jobs in this important industry. With our region's abundance 
of natural gas from Marcellus

[[Page S7009]]

and Utica shale, West Virginia is perfectly positioned for a massive 
increase of economic growth and new jobs.

  Natural gas liquids provide the building blocks for many of the 
products used by our consumers every single day--products ranging from 
the dashboard in your car or the water bottle that many of us use. 
Right now, we don't have the right infrastructure in place to store and 
distribute the building blocks that make up these products. As a 
result, these valuable resources are being used to generate heat and 
electricity, instead of being made into consumer products. As Energy 
Secretary Perry put it, that's like cooking your breakfast over a fire 
of hundred dollar bills. This represents a huge opportunity to act on 
this administration's ``America First'' energy policy. It is an 
opportunity to grow an industry here at home with an American workforce 
and America's natural resources.
  To elevate these issues in Congress, I am proud to serve as the 
cochair of the bipartisan Senate Chemistry Caucus. We host briefings 
about the importance of this industry to America's economy and national 
security. States that may not have robust petrochemical sectors, 
nonetheless, rely on its products for manufacturing, agriculture, and 
several other key industries.
  For months--I would say more than months, years--I have been 
advancing the development of an Appalachian natural gas liquids market 
to improve our storage and distribution capabilities. New drilling 
technologies have unlocked access to trillions upon trillions of cubic 
feet of natural gas and their associated liquids in West Virginia, 
Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Kentucky. Some of our most downtrodden economic 
areas have this valuable asset right there.
  Unpredicted just a decade ago, this asset can create a renaissance in 
the region's petrochemical industry, but this can only happen if 
policymakers and the private sector seize this once-in-a-generation 
opportunity. To do that, we need to create a natural gas liquid storage 
hub in Central Appalachia. The concept of this new hub is simple. Right 
now, because we don't have a way to store these liquids, we are unable 
to fully maximize this resource. That hurts producers, refiners, and 
our manufacturers in the State of West Virginia, and Ohio, and beyond.
  A storage hub and the necessary pipeline infrastructure would create 
a robust Appalachian market for natural gas liquids. This would have 
major national benefits, and here is why. Let's think about the 
hurricane that just occurred and devastated our friends in Texas. The 
gulf--and particularly Houston and the storage hub at Mont Belvieu, 
TX--dominate the domestic market there. Hurricane Harvey knocked out as 
much as 60 percent of that supply. It knocked it offline, and it took a 
month to get the hub back up and running. By establishing an 
Appalachian storage hub away from Hurricane Alley, we would add 
redundancy that protects our economy and our national security. Having 
all this storage capacity in only one region of the country only drives 
up production costs for American manufacturers. I would also add that 
this resource is in Appalachia. Appalachia should have this storage hub 
to be able to capitalize and create the jobs right in our own 
neighborhood.
  As Appalachia has become a robust producer of natural gas liquids, 
pipelines that used to flow from the gulf to the Northeast have been 
reversed. They are now sent to the gulf for storage and refining. It is 
sent back as ethylene to the interior of the country--often Appalachia 
itself--and to the Midwest for manufacturing. This back-and-forth 
obviously drives up prices for the goods you buy every day, from 
furniture to toys, to cars.
  To be clear, development of an Appalachian hub would not come at the 
expense of the gulf's market. It is a comparative advantage. The 
Appalachian hub can more efficiently serve many of the domestic 
manufacturers, while the gulf can expand its export capacity. Besides 
making the national market more efficient and resilient, an Appalachian 
market will drive significant development in a region that desperately 
needs a boost.
  A recent study found that the Appalachian States of West Virginia, 
Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky would see as much as $35.8 million in 
new capital investment, creating more than 100,000 jobs by 2025 with 
this new hub.
  When Secretary Perry accepted my invitation and visited West Virginia 
in July, the development of an Appalachian natural gas liquid storage 
hub and market was a great topic of emphasis. The Secretary met with 
several business leaders as part of a roundtable discussion to discuss 
paths forward in developing a regional ethane market. Needless to say, 
the Secretary saw the obvious benefits of such a project and that the 
hub could play a key role in the administration's related goals of 
rejuvenating the Appalachian economy and achieving an ``America First'' 
energy policy.
  The Secretary and I have discussed how best to bring this public-
private partnership to life since his visit to West Virginia. I think 
all of my colleagues--particularly those representing Appalachia--
should be as excited about this concept as the Secretary and I are. 
Several private entities are undertaking that initial development work 
right now, with interest coming from both domestic and foreign 
investors.
  I have been engaging frequently with Secretary Perry and with 
Commerce Secretary Ross about making this storage hub a reality. The 
Trump administration understands the importance of this project to the 
economies of West Virginia and the region. I appreciate their efforts 
to help move our State forward beyond the economic disasters we have 
had over the last several years. I will continue my advocacy for this 
enormous economic development opportunity and encourage my colleagues--
not just from the States I mentioned but all around the country--to 
join as partners in this effort.
  Thank you.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.