Over 20 Billion dollars is coming to the northern end of the Texas coast, in Beaumont and Port Arthur, both less than an hour from the Bolivar Peninsula beachfront resorts.

3.6 Billion dollars is coming the Beaumont area. This kind of job creation and investment capital is one of the fundamental pre-cursors to real estate appreciation and sales. The Valero Energy Corporation announced that they are going to spend about $2 billion to put a new plant in the Beaumont area and Eastman Chemical said that it plans to operate and invest in two new plants on the Gulf Coast -- including one in Beaumont, Texas. Eastman Chairman and CEO Brian Ferguson says the new $1.6 billion plant slated for Texas would be located in Beaumont. Beaumont ISD school trustees Thursday night approved a tax abatement worth $86 million to help lure Eastman to the area. Jefferson County and the City of Beaumont are expected to approve similar tax abatements for the company.

The trickledown economics of over 6 Billion is enormous. The part that goes into the local economy should circulate 6 times according to the rule of thumb. According to U-Haul, Beaumont ranked as one of the top ten US Growth Cities in 2006. People have been relocating to this area in search of better paying jobs and are attracted to the lower cost of living demonstrated by the low median home prices. The new plants that will call Beaumont home will generate enough jobs which will have an effect not only on the regular real estate market but on the second home market as well. The executives and white collar workers in these plants will want to own a nice affordable beachfront home or retreat close by. The family purchasing power in Bolivar is currently a significant amount and with the influx of the money being invested in the new plants, it will raise it even higher. Residents that may have not been able to afford to spend a weekend on the beach will now be able to. This means that vacation rentals may be going up as well along with second-home sales.

It is a great time to invest on a second home in Bolivar's beachfont resort areas, especially in Gilchrist, the closet resort area to Beaumont and Port Arthur. Click here to learn more about the Bolivar Area . Audubon Village is a new high-end resort development on the Bolivar Peninsula with oceanfront and bayviews that is only 45 minutes from Beaumont. Located in Gilchrist at the northen-end of the peninsula, Audubon is the closest beachfront development to the Beaumont area.

Air Products to Participate with Eastman Chemical in Gulf Coast Gasification Project

Air Products today announced the signing of a Letter of Intent with Eastman Chemical, Inc. to be a significant participant in a petroleum coke fed gasification project planned by Eastman in the Gulf Coast. In the project, which will be one of the first major solid-fuel gasification facilities in the Gulf Coast, Air Products will market hydrogen produced by the operation to its industry leading Gulf Coast hydrogen supply pipeline network, and construct and operate new world-class air separation units to produce over 7,000 tons per day (TPD) of oxygen, essential to the gasifier operation.

Eastman intends to locate the $1.6 billion plant in Beaumont, Texas, where the company will make low-cost intermediate chemicals such as methanol, hydrogen and ammonia. Eastman expects the regulatory permit application process to begin later this year, and construction is expected to be under way by early 2009. Construction employment is expected to peak at 1,300-1,500 workers, with permanent employment expected to be approximately 250. Eastman expects to have an equity position of as much as 50 percent and to announce a co-investor in the near future.

"We are excited to be working with Eastman on this gasification project. The scope of this project integrates our two companies' core strengths and businesses. The combination of Eastman's gasification and chemical industry experience and Air Products' industrial gas and large project experience help to make the project attractive and viable," said Alex Masetti, vice president, Tonnage Gases North America for Air Products. "The gasification project and our involvement represent a unique opportunity for Air Products to provide our world-class ASU technology, key to the operation of the gasifier, and to supply our West Gulf Coast pipeline system with hydrogen generated from petroleum coke fuel. This source of hydrogen diversifies our feed for our pipeline network and, in combination with our multi-plant system, will continue to provide refiners with a very highly reliable supply of hydrogen to make environmentally beneficial cleaner burning transportation fuels."

"We have a long association with Air Products and look forward to continuing our successful relationship in this exciting new project," said David Gallaspy, director of Project Development for Eastman's gasification services.

Air Products' Gulf Coast pipeline network extends from the Houston Ship Channel in Texas to Lake Charles, La. The company's Mississippi River corridor pipeline reaches from Baton Rouge to Norco, La., and east of New Orleans. These pipeline networks provide very highly-reliable hydrogen supply to approximately 50 refinery and process industry customers. Air Products is committed to increasing the pipeline network size in a manner that is consistent with the needs of key refining and petrochemical customers.

About Air Products

Air Products serves customers in industrial, energy, technology and healthcare markets worldwide with a unique portfolio of atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, performance materials, and equipment and services. Founded in 1940, Air Products has built leading positions in key growth markets such as semiconductor materials, refinery hydrogen, home healthcare services, natural gas liquefaction, and advanced coatings and adhesives. The company is recognized for its innovative culture, operational excellence and commitment to safety and the environment and is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability and FTSE4Good Indices. The company has annual revenues of $9 billion, operations in over 40 countries, and over 20,000 employees around the globe. For more information, visit www.airproducts.com.

About Eastman Chemical

Eastman manufactures and markets chemicals, fibers and plastics worldwide. It provides key differentiated coatings, adhesives and specialty plastics products; is the world's largest producer of PET polymers for packaging; and is a major supplier of cellulose acetate fibers. As a Responsible Care(R) company, Eastman is committed to achieving the highest standards of health, safety, environmental and security performance. Founded in 1920 and headquartered in Kingsport, Tenn., U.S.A.,

Eastman is a FORTUNE 500 company with 2006 sales of $7.5 billion and approximately 11,000 employees. For more information about Eastman and its products, visit www.eastman.com.

Eastman Chemical has awarded a front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract to Fluor for a $1.6bn gasification project along the Texas Gulf Coast.

Valued at $12m, the initial FEED contract was booked during the second quarter of 2007.

Fluor Corporation is one of the world's largest, publicly owned engineering, procurement, construction, and maintenance services companies. Over the past century, Fluor, through its operating subsidiaries, has become a trusted global business leader by providing exceptional expertise and technical knowledge across every phase of a project. Clients rely on Fluor to deliver world-class solutions that optimize their assets, improve their competitive position, and increase their long-term business success.

The plant, based in Beaumont, Texas, is expected to begin operating in 2011.

Eastman Chairman and CEO Brian Ferguson said the company will be the developer, operator, co-investor and customer of a new $1.6 billion project slated for Texas. As a participant in the recently announced Faustina Hydrogen Products LLC project in St. James Parish, LA, Eastman will be the operator, a co-investor and customer. Both projects would use petroleum coke primarily instead of natural gas to produce industrial chemicals used in a variety of consumer end products.

"Our gasification technology is good for Eastman because it's an important part of our efforts to achieve a low cost position and add to the company's earnings growth," Ferguson said. "It's good for the environment because the technology can minimize our carbon footprint when compared to traditional manufacturing processes. And, it's good for the U.S. because we can use readily available domestic feed materials such as coal and petroleum coke, which are less expensive and more stable when compared to oil or natural gas."

"Gasification is an environmentally responsible choice," Ferguson said. "We expect to sell nearly all of the carbon dioxide produced into the enhanced oil recovery market in the Gulf Coast. Additionally, this advanced process is essentially free of sulfur, mercury and arsenic emissions."

"As the first company to use gasification to produce commercial quantity chemical products from coal, we've developed a strong track record in our 24 years of experience," Ferguson said.

Texas Project
Based on incentives on the order of about $100 million that have been preliminarily approved by local officials in Beaumont, Texas, Eastman intends to locate its gasification project there, Ferguson said. That plant, which is expected to be online in 2011, will produce low-cost intermediate chemicals, such as methanol, hydrogen and ammonia.

Ferguson said Eastman anticipates a 50 percent equity position in the project and expects to announce a financial equity investor soon.

The company has acquired options on several pieces of industrial property in Beaumont, including assets currently owned by Terra Industries that include methanol and ammonia production facilities.

"We expect the Terra assets will fit in well with this project, and the result will be reduced capital costs, compared to building new methanol and ammonia facilities," Ferguson said.

Eastman has identified several key participants for the Beaumont project, including
· Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., which has signed a letter of intent to purchase hydrogen produced by the project on a long-term basis. Air Products will also construct and operate new world class air separation units to produce over 7,000 tons per day (TPD) of oxygen, essential to the gasifier operation;
· Fluor Corporation, which will support the front end engineering design effort; and
· GE Energy, which has licensed its gasification technology for the project.

Eastman expects the regulatory permit application process to begin later this year, and construction is expected to be under way by early 2009. Construction employment is expected to peak at 1300-1500 workers, with permanent employment expected to be approximately 250.

More Investment Coming to Bolivar Resort Area

Add the $3.5 billion expansion of the Motiva refinery in Port Arthur to Bolivar’s oceanfront resort fortunes.

When construction crews complete a proposed $3.5 billion expansion of the Motiva refinery in Port Arthur in 2010, it would be the largest oil refinery in the country.

That makes Motiva's expansion and the estimated $17 billion it is expected to generate for Jefferson County critical.

"The proposed project is expected to require more than 3,500 construction jobs and generate about 300 new permanent jobs upon completion," said Stan Mays, spokesman for Motiva Enterprises LLC, a U.S.-based refining and marketing joint venture of Saudi Refining Inc. and Shell Oil Company.

Motiva is working with the Texas Workforce Commission, Lamar State College, the Southeast Texas Workforce Development Board, local school systems and other organizations to recruit and train a qualified work force for the project.

Accommodating the facility will bring big changes to Port Arthur, a city of 56,000 that lies 90 miles east of Houston in Jefferson County.

The city is already growing, thanks to the Motiva expansion and other area industrial projects, said Verna Rutherford, president of the Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce. "Our residents are definitely noticing increased activity in the area," she said. "Hotels, apartments and RV parks have been filled to capacity, and many developments are underway for a large number of new homes, apartments, hotels and RV parks."

The Bolivar Resort area is already starting to get interest from new employees getting ready to relocate to the Port Arthur area and from support firms doing the development of the expansion and new facilities.

Report from America: Beaumont, Texas

Thanks to some great leadership by a good Mayor, Guy Goodson, and a very supportive Chamber of Commerce and Regional Planning Commission, they have not only come back up off the mat after the hurricane but have attracted an astounding $10 billion of investment and expansions.

Many a state would covet Beaumont's record on this front. They did it by cooperating among various agencies and the private sector and by creating a climate for business.

Beaumont serves as a model for us all that when it comes to powering the economy, manufacturing leads the way.

$10 Billion Investments for New Industry

Beaumont, the place where oil became a viable source of energy in the beginning of the 20th-century, has realized those energy boomtown days again – 21st-century style. Steve Buser, Partnership of Southeast Texas, says the greater Beaumont area has $10 billion in projects emerging. “Three companies are putting in liquid natural gas terminals – Golden Pass, Sempra and Cheniere, each will cost about $1 billion,” Buser says.

Golden Pass Vice President Tom Burger says his company chose this area for four reasons, “One, the deep-water access; and two, the pipeline grid infrastructure that exists in the area for transporting. Three is the market for natural gas with all the industry, petrochemical and power generation. And, four is the highly qualified work force contractors, suppliers and vendors.”

The expansion plans at Motiva Enterprises will double the size of its refinery and will be the largest refinery expansion in the United States in 30 years. The 290,000 barrels per day refinery will expand to 600,000 barrels per day, with 4,000 additional employees needed for five years.

“The State of Texas does about $5 billion a year in major announced investments,” Buser explains. “The Motiva Refinery represents about a year’s worth of the state’s investments. Total Petrochemicals plans about a $1 billion Coker Unit,” he says. Valero, which recently acquired Premcor’s Refinery, plans to expand its capacity to 3.3 million barrels per day in its 18 refineries at a cost of $5 billion, which includes improvements already underway. ExxonMobil, a major participant in the Golden Pass LNG project, also has commissioned a $350 million cogeneration and power network addition to the Beaumont refinery.

The fact these petroleum industry expansions and more petroleum-maritime expansions are happening in the same area where the first great oil well in the world, the Anthony F. Lucas Gusher, blew in at Spindletop – seems strange but fitting.

The entrepreneurial spirit that drove wildcatter Anthony Lucas spurred other far-sighted men to start the great oil companies of our nation. What began at Spindletop is still present in the Beaumont area today. A century later the goals of new small business owners may be in other types of companies, but the ability to recognize and grasp opportunities still thrives here.

Beaumont is home to companies such as Conn’s (major appliances), Coburn Supply (plumbing fixtures), Jason’s Deli (restaurants), Shepherd’s Uniform & Linen (uniform supply services), Texas Coffee Co. (coffee and tea), and Zummo Meat Co. (meat wholesaler).

Lamar University, through its College of Business and Engineer Research Centers, is one of Texas’ vanguards for industries and small business. Russ Waddill, director of entrepreneurship at Lamar University, says people are more inclined today than in the past to want to pursue their own interest in business. The Internet has helped level the playing field for them and they have better access to capital.

A recent economic development study showed the Beaumont area to be a hot location for companies –

* Related to the energy industry;
* Using advanced materials, composite plastics or other new products being researched at Lamar University;
* Related to the highly developed health care industry. The greater Beaumont area is the major regional medical center east of Houston and west of New Orleans; and
* Looking for a lower cost of living and a competitive labor force. High quality back-office consolidated call centers appreciate these area attributes.

Waddill says, “Many of our successful entrepreneurs play in these fields because these are our particular strengths.”

With the amount of expansions and new businesses already scheduled in the greater Beaumont area, thousands of job opportunities are expected to available now and in the future.

Shell plans major expansion of Texas Gulf Coast refinery

Royal Dutch Shell PLC plans to nearly double the size of an oil refinery it operates with a Saudi partner in Port Arthur on the Texas Gulf Coast, making it the biggest in the nation and one of the largest in the world.

More energy plant capital and people will be coming to the Bolivar Peninsula area. Energy Mecca’s Port Arthur and Beaumont are booming with over 20 billion dollars in new energy plants and expansions.

Shell, one of the world's largest oil companies, said Friday its decision to expand the refinery will increase U.S. supplies of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Shell plans to boost the Port Arthur refinery's capacity to 600,000 barrels of crude oil per day by 2010 from the current 275,000 barrels per day.Shell estimated that the expansion, the biggest in more than 30 years, would cost about $7 billion.

The Anglo-Dutch company operates the refinery with Saudi Refining Inc., a subsidiary of Saudi national oil company Saudi Aramco, in a venture called Motiva Enterprises LLC.

Major oil companies have canceled plans to build new refineries or greatly expand current ones for many years because of environmental opposition and because the profit margins on refining crude oil were too thin.

The Shell-Saudi expansion will occur at an existing plant, however, making it easier to obtain the necessary permits. Workers have already begun sinking pilings into the soil where major units will be built. -- Associated Press

Sempra Energy proposed the construction of a marine petroleum terminal and storage facility that would serve the Gulf Coast region.

The initial phase of the proposed terminal, which would be located in Port Arthur, Texas, would provide storage and transportation assistance in the import and export of crude oil, liquid petroleum gas and related products.

The San Diego energy company said it is soliciting potential customers interested in purchasing terminal capacity.

no comment i just need a job