RICK PERRY: We aim for energy domination.
Washington Examiner: Shell is building a cracker plant not far from here. Is that part of the equation of creating an energy hub in this region? Explain what a cracker plant is, because when people who are not from an energy state hear “cracker plants,” they think it’s a plant that makes saltines.
Perry: (laughing) Well, this is cracking those molecules so that you can have different byproducts — ethane, ethylene — that go into the petrochemical industry, and yes, that is adding value. That is creating a hub. If you just took that gas and burned it at a power plant, it’s sort of like cooking your breakfast using $100 bills. It will cook your breakfast, but it’s a pretty expensive way to do it.
But if you take that gas, process it, crack it, send different streams different ways to be used in a lot of valued-added processing, that can happen right here in this region. So, one job becomes 10 jobs. And those are high-value jobs.
The other side of what it does, President Trump’s vision of making America dominant in the energy field — this is exactly what he’s talking about. He doesn’t want us just to be independent. He wants us to be dominant. That means that our allies, wherever they may be in the world, know that there will be a constant stream of these products that they need to develop their countries economically.
All of our allies are very interested in our being able to develop different energy sources, LNG in particular. I mean, this is a game changer.
Putin, OPEC hardest hit.