Energy firms are seeing positive signs for petrochemical activity for the rest of this year and next year. "We are making investments to increase the amount of lower-cost feedstocks reaching our refineries and chemical plants, much of it coming from here in the U.S. We also are making investments to build pipelines, terminals and rail loading and offloading facilities," said Phillips 66 spokeswoman Alissa Hicks. Chevron Phillips Chemical, meanwhile, is planning to build several facilities in Texas, including an ethane cracker in Baytown.