US shale story has been ‘very positive’ for Borealis, CEO says

Eddie Seal | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Workers make a pipe connection on the Orion Perseus drilling rig, Webb County, Texas.

The growth of the shale industry will strengthen the U.S. for the next 15 to 20 years, Borealis Chief Executive Mark Garrett told CNBC on Sunday.

“We’re very positive on the U.S. because the shale oil, the shale gas, we think that the ethane pricing, and the ethane through to polyethylene — and you could even go through into polypropylene from the propane — we think that will be very strong for the next 15-20 years out the U.S.,” Garrett said in an interview with CNBC’s Hadley Gamble.

“So we’ve actually got a large project with Total, we’re building a $3.2 billion complex near Houston. And we think that that’s going to be the future. The U.S. for the next 15-20 years looks very promising.”

Garrett added that President Donald Trump’s tax cuts “have not been bad for business.”

Borealis, Total and NOVA Chemicals formed a joint venture to boost petrochemicals facilities in Texas earlier this year.

The U.S. shale market has grown in recent years following the advent of drilling techniques including fracking, or hydraulic fracturing. The growth of natural gas production and exports in the U.S. comes at a time when the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) — a collective of the world’s biggest oil exporters — and Russia are cutting supply.