Article snippet: The brutal storm pummeling the Houston area is likely to rank as one of the nation’s costliest natural disasters, with tens of billions in lost economic activity and property damage across a region crucial to the energy, chemical and shipping industries. But economists say the region is likely to recover quickly and may even experience a bump in growth from rebuilding. The Houston metropolitan area, the nation’s fifth largest by population, accounts for about 3 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. The area has a large and growing population and attracts continuous investment in oil-related manufacturing. It is also an important cog in global trade. Texas accounts for about half of petroleum and gas exports, along with about a fifth of chemical exports. “The economic damage will be moderate, with disruptions to the heart of the nation’s refinery and petrochemical industries in August and September,” said Robert Dye, chief economist at Comerica Bank. Texas is often thought of as a center of oil production, but the Houston area and the nearby Gulf Coast is where much of that black gold is turned into refined products like gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil, and other distillates. Mr. Dye said the Texas Gulf coast was home to about 30 percent of the nation’s refining capacity, with about half of that now shuttered by the storm. As a result, wholesale prices for gasoline jumped 6 cents to $1.73 a gallon in trading Monday on the benchmark contract that settl... Link to the full article to read more