Cushing Refinery Project

[sportyart]

Well, after reading, and rereading the plans of trying to get a 2.5 billion dollar refinery in Cushing Oklahoma. I am curious if the city being slightly closer to Tulsa then OKC, that Tulsa might want to work closely on this project to maybe get some benefits out of it.

I am not sure why I could not quote from the world because it probably falls under fair use, since it's being done for commentary, but if I tick someone off, sorry, and if you could tell me why, I will unpost....but anyways...


Tulsa World-
By Pattie Weaver, World Correspondent

" CUSHING -- Speaking to a standing-room-only audience Wednesday at City Hall, former U.S. Rep. Wes Watkins told supporters of a proposal to build a $2.5 billion megarefinery, "I do think it's doable."

About 100 people gathered for a public forum sponsored by a Rural Economic Development Initiative state legislative task force, and the primary topic was the refinery proposal.

"I ask you to be patient," Watkins said.

"I've personally been working in six to seven meetings" concerning locating a refinery in Cushing, the "pipeline crossroads of the world," Watkins said. "I think we'll have some solid footing."

During a press conference before the three-hour forum, Watkins, who was retained as an economic development consultant to the Bank of Cushing about three months ago, said the price tag for such a refinery would be $2.5 billion.

"There's people working right today to crunch the numbers to see if they can make things happen," he said.

The source of funding is "mainly private money," Watkins said.

"There has been some discussion with the Sac and Fox -- this is their area of Oklahoma," added Watkins, expressing admiration for the progressive
leadership of the Stroud-based tribe.

Also speaking was Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Denise Bode, who said, "I believe we need to get on the bandwagon" and support the refinery plan.

"We have nothing to lose and a tremendous amount to gain -- hundreds of millions of dollars worth of jobs that a refinery could bring to Oklahoma," she said.

Bode said she has been getting calls "from companies looking at reopening mothball refineries or building refineries. . . . I can't disclose the names."

"Many of the refineries I've talked to, they're looking for the first time in 20 years where they'll build," she said.

Bode said her staff has submitted proposals to major companies for the past few weeks.

"We have 5 to 8 percent of U.S. refinery capacity out for some time" because of Gulf Coast damage inflicted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Bode said. "That's unacceptable to have all our eggs in one basket."

Asked if companies were specifically asking about Cushing as a refinery site, Bode said, "Yes, the transportation, storage, the resource you have here."

Referring to proposed legislation called the "Oklahoma Refinery Revitalization Act," Bode said she wants to steamline the permitting process: "We're about cutting the red tape while still protecting health, safety and the environment."

In the past, "It has taken six or seven years to go through the permitting," she said.

Speaking about U.S. dependence on imported oil, Charles Mankin, director of the Sarkeys Energy Center at the University of Oklahoma, said, "We are very short on refineries today. If one goes down, we immediately see it at the gas pump."

"Should a refinery be built in Cushing, Oklahoma?" he asked. "My own view is yes. This is the pipeline crossroads in the U.S."

Dean Oliver, head of the petroleum engineering department at the University of Oklahoma, said the last refinery built in the United States was in 1976.

Only five of the nation's 149 refineries are located in Oklahoma, he said, but they will have $157 million in payroll this year.

State Rep. Lee Denney, R-Cushing, a member of the legislative task force dedicated to stimulating rural economic development, said she is optimistic about a refinery being built in Cushing.

"We're situated for it to happen," she said. "I sure hope it does.

"It's Cushing's history. It's our heritage. I haven't met anyone who wouldn't welcome it with open arms." "