A week after Southern Rock Energy and Prairie Energy announced a possible site in Texas for a $5.56 billion refinery was “less appealing,” the company announced it had chosen Oklahoma’s Cushing Hub for the site of the plant that will create 423 permanent jobs.
Business leaders in Cushing are excited over the prospects as construction of the huge refinery will also produce 1,250 jobs.
Bruce Johnson with the Cushing Economic Development Foundation thinks it will benefit Cushing and the country reported NewsBreak.
“They wanna come in and add energy security to the United States by having domestically-produced light sweet crude,” Johnson said, “I think there’s gonna be a good balance between this project and green energy supplies.”
Oil is nothing new for Cushing. In the early 1900s, wildcatters made their money in Cushing and nearby Drumright.
“This has kind of taken us back to a centuries-old tradition of finding the oil, producing the oil, refining the oil, then sending it out to the rest of the world’s markets,” Johnson said who anticipates an $18 billion economic impact in the coming decade.
Steven Ward, managing director of Southern Rock began investigating Cushing as a possible site two years ago.
“Cushing has adequate and ample supply of crude. It’s centrally located. We have distribution system options not just through pipeline but also by rail,” he said, reported The Oklahoman.
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