DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Odessa Petrochemical Complex out in Ector County. Now, the 1950s were a particular kind of moment in West Texas — and if you want proof, consider this: the Odessa Petrochemical Complex became the largest of its kind in the world. The whole world.
That's not a boast someone scrawled on a napkin. That's just what happened. But to understand how you get there, you have to go back a few years, to 1946, when four West Texas businessmen sat down together and decided natural gas was being wasted on a grand and inexcusable scale.
Their names were W.D. Noel, E.G. Rodman, M.H.
McWhirter, and J.B. Tubb, and what they founded was the Odessa Natural Gasoline Company. The aim of these oilmen — and the marker calls them exactly that, oilmen — was to find profitable and efficient applications for all that natural gas that was just disappearing into the air during the oil refinery process.
Turns out natural gas had something to say for itself. It proved useful for producing petrochemicals like butadiene and styrene — key ingredients, the marker tells us, for synthetic rubber. The Odessa Chamber of Commerce was not a slow-movin' outfit when it came to expandin' the local economy.
They looked to Noel and Rodman specifically, and they got to work. The chamber sanctioned the construction of a butadiene plant in 1956. Then a Dynagen slash General Tire plant came along in 1957.
Then a styrene plant in 1958. One, two, three — like they were laying down cards in a winning hand. Now, somebody had to keep all those plants fed, and that's where the El Paso Products Company stepped in.
It was a joint venture between the West Texas Gathering Company and El Paso Natural Gas, and it built a facility that supplied the butadiene and styrene plants with natural gas. That plant, the marker says, ultimately grew to be an anchor for the entire complex. And anchors attract company.
Shell Oil arrived. Then Rexene. American Cryogenics, South West Cryogenics, Beaunit Corporation — the complex kept growin', plant by plant, company by company, until what you had out there in Ector County was something that produced petrochemical products used in a diverse array of residential and industrial contexts all across the country.
The Odessa Petrochemical Complex fostered the growth of the American petroleum industry, and that industry, in turn, facilitated the subsequent expansion of Odessa itself. Four men, one company, one year — 1946 — and by the time the 1950s finished what they started, West Texas had built something the whole world had to look up at.
What the marker says
In the 1950s, the Odessa Petrochemical Complex was the largest of its kind in the world. The first business to occupy the future complex was the Odessa Natural Gasoline Company founded in 1946 by four west Texas businessmen: W.D. Noel, E.G. Rodman, M.H. McWhirter and J.B Tubb. The aim of these oilmen was to find profitable and efficient applications for the vast quantities of natural gas wasted during the oil refinery process. Natural gas proved useful for the production of certain petrochemicals like butadine and styrene, key ingredients for synthetic rubber. The Odessa Chamber of Commerce proved eager to expand its economy, and looked to Noel and Rodman to boost prospects of the town. The chamber sanctioned the construction of a butadiene plant in 1956, followed by a Dynagen/General Tire plant in 1957 and a styrene plant in 1958. The El Paso Products Company, a joint venture between the West Texas Gathering Company and El Paso Natural Gas, built a facility and supplied the butadine and styrene plants with natural gas. This plant ultimately grew to be an anchor for the complex. Additional companies and plants joined the complex including Shell Oil, Rexene, American Cryogenics, South West Cryogenics and Beaunit Corporation. These companies produced petrochemical products used in a diverse array of residential and industrial contexts. The Odessa Petrochemical Complex fostered the growth of the American petroleum industry which, in turn, facilitated the subsequent expansion of Odessa. (2015)