Jefferson County, Texas Forecast to be Hot Bed of Petroleum Refining Industry Project Activity in 2007

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). Go about as far south and east as you can go in Texas and you will find yourself in Jefferson County, Texas. Bordered by the Gulf of Mexico to the south and by Louisiana to the east, across the Sabine River, Jefferson County is known as the birthplace of the oil and gas industry in the southern U.S. with the major petroleum discovery at Spindeltop in 1901. Since that time, the county has grown into one of the largest refining and petrochemical complexes in the world, with deepwater ports serving global destinations at county seat Beaumont, as well as in Port Arthur, Nederland, and Port Neches.

2007 looks to be a superb year for industrial project spending in Jefferson County. Currently, Industrial Info is tracking 48 industrial capital and maintenance projects in Jefferson County, totaling more than $2.9 billion scheduled to begin construction in 2007. The county finds itself the sixth largest county in the U.S. for industrial project spending in 2007 and also has the third most projects behind Harris County, Texas, with 93 and Los Angeles County, California, with 49. See related January 25, 2007 news article - Top 20 Industrial Project Spending Counties for 2007.

The 2007 forecast is a significant increase from the $1.2 billion worth of projects that kicked off in 2006. One of the largest projects to begin construction in 2006 in Jefferson County is at Motiva’s Port Arthur Refinery. Motiva began construction in June 2006 on a $200 million diesel hydrotreater unit addition (No. 5) that is scheduled to be complete late in 2007.

In the fall of 2006, demolition work started on a $110 million rebuild of an ethylene and propylene unit that was damaged in an April 2006 fire at Huntsman Corporation’s Port Arthur Aromatics and Olefins plant in Port Arthur, Texas. The Shaw Group (Port Arthur, Texas) is providing engineering and construction services for the project. Construction should be complete by the summer of 2007.

For 2007, the Petroleum Refining Industry is back with a vengeance in Jefferson County after a slowdown in project spending in 2006, commanding about 75% of the project work scheduled to begin construction in 2007 with more that $2.2 billion planned from 20 projects. Companies such as Motiva Enterprises, LLC, Valero Refining Company, and Total Petrochemicals USA are gearing up for the first round of unit and capacity expansions in the region.

Industrial Info recently released the fifth edition of the North American Petroleum Refineries Wall Map. Click on the link for details.

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