Tax plan approved for plant

Another hurdle has been cleared in bringing the $1.15 billion Century Plant to Pecos County.

County commissioners unanimously approved Payment-In-Lieu-of-Tax contracts with SandRidge Energy Monday, said Doug May, Fort Stockton economic development director.

The contracts provide for payment of $13.7 million in place of property taxes between 2009 and 2019. After that, the plant will become part of the county's regular property tax base.

Once complete, the plant will be conveyed to Oxy USA, which is responsible for covering approximately 70 percent of the tax-break deal, May said.

SandRidge is building the plant to extract carbon dioxide from the natural gas wells it drills in the area. Then Oxy will use the CO2 in enhanced oil recovery.

SandRidge looks to increase its capability of producing methane from high-CO2 gas by five times, while Oxy plans to increase its oil production by 50,000 barrels per day as a result of the plant.

The plant is expected to employ 350 workers during construction and bring in 42 permanent jobs.

The plant, which will be located south of Fort Stockton near the intersection of Highway 285 and Puckett Road, is expected to be complete by 2011.

In order to meet workforce demand, SandRidge is already building a housing development on 400 acres on the edge of town, said Fort Stockton Mayor Ruben Falcon, who also owns a restaurant in the city.

The construction process will mean a lot of hungry workers, he said.

"That's a lot different than a drilling rig," he said. "They're not going to build a billion-dollar plant short term."