Nacero is still on track to start construction on its $7 billion natural gas to gasoline plant in Penwell this quarter, Nacero Chief Operating Officer Hal Bouknight told Odessa City Council members Tuesday.
Although they had originally planned to have a groundbreaking ceremony a bit earlier, Bouknight said it looks as though the ceremony will now be held at the end of March in order to accommodate Gov. Greg Abbott’s schedule.
There has been a lot going on behind the scenes since he last spoke with them in November, Bouknight said during the council’s work session Tuesday.
They’re in the process of negotiating contracts with a public company that intends to buy 100,000 barrels of gas per day from Nacero, with a solar company they’ll be purchasing power from and with a LPG gas company, Bouknight said. All of those agreements are expected to be completed by the end of February or March, he said.
In addition, Bouknight said they’ll be selecting a new general contractor by early March, too.
Twenty-seven contractors have expressed interest in the project and they’ve been whittled down to six, he said.
In the past, Nacero representatives have said the construction phase will require 3,500 workers and the plant will employ 350 when it becomes operational.
On Tuesday, Bouknight said they are “actively taking names.”
“We’re looking for contractors in the area. We have a database right now of probably 150 to 200 contractors in the area, the Permian area, that would be interested in supporting the project in a number of ways,” Bouknight said. “There’s 26 major contractors that are located in the region here. Some big, some medium-sized, some selective like electrical. They all will put their qualifications in and when we’ve selected the general contractors, we’re breaking up the packages, we will go out to local contractors.”
Once they break ground, Bouknight told the council they’ll begin cleaning up the site, which has 48-50 wells on it, some of which are no longer operating and were simply covered up before there were Texas Railroad Commission requirements. Those have been located using aerial photos, he said.
They’ll be looking for leaks and their intention is to clean them up as they go along, he said.
In addition, Nacero has negotiated with several pipeline companies to move their pipelines off the property and remediate any leakage, he said.
“We’re trying to start by taking care of the issues that are legacy issues and clean it up,” Bouknight said.
Nacero wants to “build out” Texas and their investors are behind them, Bouknight said.
“So be proud for the facility that we’re going to build here because it’s going to be the model and the example and the anchor facility that will anchor a large business for Nacero in Texas,” he said.
