In my last post I wrote about how shale energy production has dramatically transformed the U.S. petrochemical industry as part of the wider economic revolution that has created more than a million new jobs and generated billions in new economic activity. In particular, I noted how the chemical industry has proposed 125 new projects in the last few years.

All told the new chemical projects could mean as much as $84 billion in U.S. capital investment.

That includes ExxonMobil’s planned multi-billion dollar ethane cracker and premium products facilities at our integrated Baytown complex in Texas.

For the full potential of this proposed investment to be realized, however, government agencies have to do their part – particularly when it comes to permitting.

ExxonMobil Chemical Company president Steve Pryor explained the criticality of timely permitting in a recent speech at the Shale Insight Conference in Philadelphia.

Steve noted that the state of Texas and the Environmental Protection Agency have fully approved one major steam cracker project, and those permits were issued within a year of the company submitting a complete application.

Setting a standard for timely review

That’s encouraging because this timeframe sets an appropriate standard for action on the six other major ethane crackers that have been announced, including ExxonMobil’s project.

Timely review by regulatory bodies is essential, Steve emphasized, because permit approval times are a leading indicator of how quickly our nation is capturing the benefits of shale energy.

The price of delay could be high: billions in added costs, restrained job creation and – ominously – an erosion of America’s new-found competitive advantage.

The overall benefits from shale energy production over the next few years are expected to be huge – 3.9 million new jobs and $533 billion in additional GDP by 2025, IHS estimates.

But it will only happen if policymakers take the right steps – on everything from petrochemical expansion to liquefied natural gas export terminals – to ensure that the needed investment can be made.