When America builds critical pipeline infrastructure, consumers benefit. Not only are jobs created, putting Americans to work, but the U.S. economy gains strength and companies invest in our future.  In fact, experts predict that oil and natural gas infrastructure will lead to an investment of nearly $46 billion dollars for energy consumers in the United States over the next 25 years as the industry builds out nearly 1,300 miles of new pipeline.

The most obvious source of jobs created by pipeline construction are the hundreds of direct laborers that must be hired to physically build the pipeline. A recent pipeline project estimated that it would require nearly 7,000 laborers to complete it – representing over $300 million dollars in salaries and benefits paid to American families.

Another pipeline operator recently stated that over 500 workers are required to build every 100 mile section of pipeline. The math is easy, with the United States needing and estimated 1,300 miles of new pipeline in the next 25 years, more than 65,000 new jobs will be created – jobs that provide a living wage for working families.

However, the direct jobs created by pipeline construction merely scratch the surface of the thousands of indirect workers required to support the completion of a pipeline project.

When pipelines are built, they require refining and constructing raw materials, transporting those materials, and storing them – each of which requires workers.

Additionally, construction projects require support industries and services that include:

• Truck drivers
• Restaurants
• Hotels
• Homes
• Grocery stores
• Accountants
• Lawyers
• Banks
• Gas stations
• Movie theaters
• Clothing stores

Economists estimate that our country’s current natural gas renaissance will create:

• 17,000 new chemical industry jobs
• 195,000 manufacturing and supply chain jobs
• 230,000 indirect jobs created to support this industry.

And the jobs don’t stop there, once a pipeline is completed and it begins moving oil or natural gas from its production site to market – even more jobs are created in all sectors of the American economy.  Manufacturing companies and their employees take oil and natural gas and refine them to create materials like:

• Plastics
• Textiles
• Rubber
• Other common goods that we rely on daily

Each of these materials can then be sent to other companies for their employees to create basic everyday items such as cosmetics, clothing, carpet, laundry detergent, tires, and air conditioning units.

At the end of the day, the numbers speak from themselves: pipelines create jobs for Americans and their families.