Oil terminal being built in St. James Parish

Wolverine Terminals LLC plans to invest $30 million in a crude oil terminal and blending operation on a 15-acre Mississippi River site in St. James Parish, state and company officials said Wednesday.

Wolverine will create 20 jobs, with an average annual salary of $62,000, plus benefits.

The Louisiana Economic Development department estimates the project also will result in 18 new indirect jobs and said it will support an estimated 100 construction jobs.

The Wolverine Terminals project is supported by energy investment companies Gulfport Energy Corp., of Oklahoma City, and Wexford Capital LP, of Greenwich, Conn. The project will include rail and dock facility improvements along with storage tank construction that will enable the company to receive crude oil shipments by rail from Canadian and U.S. locations and to ship blended oil products by barge to domestic customers.

The facility will have five storage-and-blending tanks, with a total capacity of 425,000 barrels of crude oil. Construction will begin in third-quarter 2013 and be completed by the end of the second quarter in 2014.

“We look forward to working in concert with the state and parish in creating jobs for the area,” Wolverine General Manager Terry Wilson said in a news release.

LED said the state offered the company participation in Louisiana’s Quality Jobs Program. Hiring will be completed as the company starts commercial operations at the Paulina site in the second quarter of 2014.