Plans to close the Shell Lubricants facility at the Port of Vicksburg by Dec. 1 will mean the loss of 24 more jobs at the already hard-hit E.W. Haining Industrial Center.

Wayne Mansfield, executive director of the Warren County Port Commission said he had a brief conversation with the plant manager that confirmed the shutdown.

“From what I understand, the decision was already made,” Mansfield said. “They said it was not cost-effective to operate with current market conditions.”

The oil-blending plant in Vicksburg was operated by SOPUS Products Inc., which Pennzoil-Quaker State Company was renamed in 2003 after the latter was acquired by Shell Oil. Components blended locally were added to various engine performance and fuel system product brands under the SOPUS umbrella, including Pennzoil, Quaker State, Rotella T, Black Magic, Slick 50, Rain-X and Fix-A-Flat.​

In January, the company purchased the 10.6 acres on which it sits for $1 from Warren County, in keeping with terms of $6 million in improvement bonds issued in 1979. In April 2008, a 30-by-50-foot area of soil on the property became part of a “brownfield” agreement between the company and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality due to risk posed by petroleum hydrocarbons.

Statements issued by the company spoke to a desire to consolidate its operations into nine other blending and packaging facilities it owns and operates in the United States.

“After a thorough review, we have determined that we can effectively produce the volumes manufactured at our Vicksburg Blending Plant through other facilities in our network,” read part of an e-mail from Shell spokesman Michelle Herskowitz.

“The streamlining of our business will have to impact on our ability to provide customers with the products they need. Impacted employees have been notified and they are being treated fairly and provided due consideration in this process. We appreciate all those who have worked hard to make the Vicksburg LOBP successful,” Herskowitz said.

Shell is the third business at the port to close this year. In June, Ergon Inc. announced its specialty products division SpecFab would close over a period of several months. Four months earlier, Armstrong World Industries closed its local flooring plant near the port entrance on Haining Road. Both also remain the owners of their respective properties.

The Haining Industrial Center, created by dredging slack-water channels off the Yazoo River to create waterfront sites, is one of two large industrial developments managed by members of the port commission, who are appointed by county supervisors. The second development is at Flowers and is known as the Ceres Industrial Interplex.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com