Chevron's $500M Pascagoula Boost Eyes 200 Jobs, Bigger Output

Chevron announced a $500 million expansion project at its Pascagoula refinery on Oct. 15, 2007, aiming to vault the facility into the ranks of America's top refineries. Pascagoula Refinery General Manager Roland Kell highlighted the investment as a vote of confidence in the region's rebound from Hurricane Katrina, with the project set to boost gasoline output to more than 6 million gallons per day and elevate capacity rankings to fifth-largest nationwide. The upgrade includes replacing two 30-year-old reformers with a 55,000-barrel-per-day continuous catalytic reforming platformer, targeting completion in late summer 2010.

Located in Jackson County along Mississippi's Gulf Coast, the refinery—commissioned in 1963—processes 330,000 barrels of crude oil per day into transportation fuels like motor gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel, and specialty products such as paraxylene and benzene. Employing 1,500 workers around the clock with 20 major processing units, 200 storage tanks, and four marine terminals, the site anchors local energy jobs. Officials expect the expansion to create 200 construction positions, injecting economic vitality into Pascagoula and surrounding communities still healing from 2005's storm devastation.

This project builds on prior upgrades, including a $1.4 billion base oil lubricants expansion approved in 2011 that added a lubes hydrocracker and generated 1,000 construction jobs. A separate continuous catalytic reforming initiative, completed in late 2010, incorporated green jet fuel technology from Honeywell's UOP. Chevron's moves underscore Pascagoula's role serving Gulf Coast markets amid fluctuating energy demands.