http://www.gosanangelo.com/story/news/local/2.../99009994/
SAN ANGELO — Austin-based MMEX Resources announced its intention to build a $450 million oil refinery in Pecos County.
The company in a news release said it intends to refine Permian Basin crude oil into gasoline and other fuels for export into the Mexican market and chose the location, near Fort Stockton, as being an ideal point between the Permian's oil production area and its destination market.
The project, which still requires a host of regulatory approvals, is expected to break ground next year and be in operation by 2019.
The company said Texas Pacifico Railroad, with headquarters in San Angelo, will be used to move the oil to the refinery.
“By building a state-of-the-art refinery along the region’s existing railway infrastructure, we hope to bring a local and export market for crude oil and refined products which will add substantial job and economic growth to West Texas.”
Jack W. Hanks, president and CEO of MMEX Resources Corp.
MMEX said it is in the process of acquiring 250 acres for the plant near the railroad's Sulphur Junction spur about 20 miles north of Fort Stockton.
“The Permian Basin is the largest continuous oil discovery in America and has experienced exponential gains in daily production volume recently,” said Jack W. Hanks, president and CEO of MMEX Resources Corp. “The existing facilities and pipeline networks are largely unequipped to handle this growth and are limiting where products can be transported. By building a state-of-the-art refinery along the region’s existing railway infrastructure, we hope to bring a local and export market for crude oil and refined products which will add substantial job and economic growth to West Texas.“
The plant will be designed to process 50,000 barrels of crude a day, MMEX said.
The project will create about 400 direct jobs during the construction period, estimated to be 18 months, and require a permanent staff of about 100 once it's in operation.
Jack Hanks, CEO of MMEX, said in an interview Friday he had spent quite a bit of time in the past six months driving around West Texas and considering possible locations for the refinery.
"I looked at Midland, Ector. ... I've known about Texas Pacifico Railroad, and I drove from San Angelo to Presidio scouting locations," he said. "We needed affordable land, but not right on a highway or next to a town. I did it by just getting in the car and driving, looking, talking to people."
He hit on the rail spur north of Fort Stockton, about 160 miles northeast of the border rail bridge at Presidio, as a promising spot. "I had meetings with the county judge, the mayor, the economic development director, and received enthusiastic support," he said.
Fort Stockton is about 165 miles west of San Angelo.
It will be the first refinery built anywhere in the U.S. in more than 40 years and the first such plant built in that region of Texas. Alon USA operates a 73,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Big Spring, a plant that was built more than 80 years ago.
Hanks said that because the planned MMEX refinery will be built to process less than 50,000 barrels per day, it is classified as a minor emissions operation and the permitting process will be handled entirely by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, not the federal Environmental Protection Agency. He said the permits will primarily involve air emissions.
The next several months will involve development work, permits and supply contracts, he said. "There are a lot of moving parts," he said, and construction jobs won't get started until well into the future.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/17/business/e...n-oil.html
SAN ANGELO — Austin-based MMEX Resources announced its intention to build a $450 million oil refinery in Pecos County.
The company in a news release said it intends to refine Permian Basin crude oil into gasoline and other fuels for export into the Mexican market and chose the location, near Fort Stockton, as being an ideal point between the Permian's oil production area and its destination market.
The project, which still requires a host of regulatory approvals, is expected to break ground next year and be in operation by 2019.
The company said Texas Pacifico Railroad, with headquarters in San Angelo, will be used to move the oil to the refinery.
“By building a state-of-the-art refinery along the region’s existing railway infrastructure, we hope to bring a local and export market for crude oil and refined products which will add substantial job and economic growth to West Texas.”
Jack W. Hanks, president and CEO of MMEX Resources Corp.
MMEX said it is in the process of acquiring 250 acres for the plant near the railroad's Sulphur Junction spur about 20 miles north of Fort Stockton.
“The Permian Basin is the largest continuous oil discovery in America and has experienced exponential gains in daily production volume recently,” said Jack W. Hanks, president and CEO of MMEX Resources Corp. “The existing facilities and pipeline networks are largely unequipped to handle this growth and are limiting where products can be transported. By building a state-of-the-art refinery along the region’s existing railway infrastructure, we hope to bring a local and export market for crude oil and refined products which will add substantial job and economic growth to West Texas.“
The plant will be designed to process 50,000 barrels of crude a day, MMEX said.
The project will create about 400 direct jobs during the construction period, estimated to be 18 months, and require a permanent staff of about 100 once it's in operation.
Jack Hanks, CEO of MMEX, said in an interview Friday he had spent quite a bit of time in the past six months driving around West Texas and considering possible locations for the refinery.
"I looked at Midland, Ector. ... I've known about Texas Pacifico Railroad, and I drove from San Angelo to Presidio scouting locations," he said. "We needed affordable land, but not right on a highway or next to a town. I did it by just getting in the car and driving, looking, talking to people."
He hit on the rail spur north of Fort Stockton, about 160 miles northeast of the border rail bridge at Presidio, as a promising spot. "I had meetings with the county judge, the mayor, the economic development director, and received enthusiastic support," he said.
Fort Stockton is about 165 miles west of San Angelo.
It will be the first refinery built anywhere in the U.S. in more than 40 years and the first such plant built in that region of Texas. Alon USA operates a 73,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Big Spring, a plant that was built more than 80 years ago.
Hanks said that because the planned MMEX refinery will be built to process less than 50,000 barrels per day, it is classified as a minor emissions operation and the permitting process will be handled entirely by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, not the federal Environmental Protection Agency. He said the permits will primarily involve air emissions.
The next several months will involve development work, permits and supply contracts, he said. "There are a lot of moving parts," he said, and construction jobs won't get started until well into the future.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/17/business/e...n-oil.html
