December 16, 2016 - TRA Newswire -

Raven Petroleum has plans to build a $500 million oil refinery in South Texas to process Eagle Shale oil and to sell it in Mexico, Kallanish Energy reports.

The proposed facility, east of Laredo in Duval County, would handle 50,000 barrels per day (BPD) of crude. The so-called South Texas Energy Complex would produce gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, naphtha and LPG gas products.

“It makes sense from a logistical standpoint. We’re sitting right on top of our own feedstock,” said Raven Petroleum founder Christopher Moore, the Houston Chronicle newspaper reported. “We’re really seeing that (Mexican) demand. It’s materialized and escalated.”

The crude oil would arrive via rail or pipelines. Plans call for two in-bound trains and two out-bound trains per day. There would be direct rail access to Mexico via the Kansas City Southern Railroad.

The refinery, the first to be built in Texas in 40 years, would be on 200 acres, with an additional 632 acres available for development. There would be storage for up to 4 million barrels.

Construction could begin in 2017 and the plant could begin operations in late 2018. The construction would take about 1,500 workers, and the plant would require 300 full-time staffers.

Raven Petroleum is based in The Woodlands, Texas.