BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – It’s no secret that Louisiana’s economy is heavily dependent on oil and natural gas, but over the past year, the production of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) has come to the forefront.
This alone will attract billions in investments and create the opportunity for a significant increase in export earnings and the creation of local jobs.
“With this investment comes 3,000 direct and indirect jobs and over 4,000 construction jobs,” said Paige Carter, chief business development officer for the Louisiana Economic Development Dept. “So when you look at the impact on the market overall, it’s exciting.”
China currently has a firm grip on electric vehicle development. This, in turn, has led to government incentives for electric vehicle manufacturing in the states, particularly in Louisiana.
“I think there’s a need to bring a lot of that activity inland, and it’s really a great way to bring the batteries and the supply chain of what we use here in Louisiana into the state or into the United States.”
Despite the increasing growth in the electric vehicle sector, oil experts believe that ultimately it will be customers who will decide whether gasoline and oil will continue to play a role in the state of Louisiana.
“People have needs. They need to get to work, they need to get to school, they need to be able to power their homes,” said Tommy Faucheux, president of the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association. “Right now, they’re going to continue to rely on natural gas because of the cost and the availability of the technology.”
Carter and Faucheux are both convinced that the two energy giants can work together.
“I think when you look at the world population, the demand is there and ultimately we want as much of it as possible to be exported from the ports of the United States and Louisiana,” Carter said.
“We know that refineries are continuing to operate at full capacity to maintain production. This seems particularly good for a state like Louisiana, whose economy is heavily dependent on a strong oil and gas economy,” Faucheux stressed.
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