HATTIESBURG AMERICAN
Editorial, by The Mississippi Press
Monday, October 29, 2007
CHEVRON'S GROWTH GOOD FOR REGION
The Chevron plan to expand its Pascagoula refinery is good news for Jackson County, Mississippi and the Gulf Coast. The announcement of the $500 million project is a vote of confidence in this area's recovery from Hurricane Katrina and the future of south Mississippi.
Some credit for the expansion must be given to rising fuel prices at the pump. While we may wince here about those prices, the expansion marks those prices as a direct benefit to the local economy.
Through Chevron, Jackson County's economy is tied to the price of oil. It may hurt when we fill up, but unlike other areas we are benefiting from energy production. As Chevron makes more money it can grow its refinery here.
At an announcement ceremony, Roland Kell, refinery manager, said he tells other business leaders, "This area has the infrastructure for their investments to be successful."
That's quite an endorsement coming two years after Katrina battered the Coast.
The expansion will make the Chevron refinery the fifth largest in the nation. ...
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