THE LONG TERM future of the Texaco refinery could be assured with the merger of oil giants Chevron and Texaco.

The announcement made on Friday was warmly welcomed by regional industrial organiser Danny Fellows.

'It's good news for Pembrokeshire, Wales, and the employees at the refinery. These are well paid jobs and so keep a lot of money in the county,' he said. The Pembroke plant - which employs 490 Texaco staff and 260 permanent contract workers - is regarded as a jewel in the crown.

Said Mr Fellows: 'It is still one of the largest oil refineries in Europe and we now hope it will have a long term future. Texaco itself is currently providing a major investment and that has been approved by the new Chevron board.'

Construction of a new £45 million ultra low sulphur gasoline plant should be completed by the end of the year and work is also being carried out on upgrading two jetties, with new pipelines linking them to the refinery, at a cost of a further £34 million.

Milford Haven Port Authority is hoping this will increase oil tanker traffic in the Haven.

The authority's general manager, Mr Ted Sangster, explained: 'Pembroke Port traffic has been down this year, partly due to routine shutdowns at the Texaco and Elf refineries. But the new investment at Texaco, together with the announcement of the Chevron Texaco merger, looks very positive.'

Mr Phil Walters, general manager refinery operations, said: 'Our company will continue to help communities and businesses everywhere we work.

We, at Pembroke, have always had a close association with the local community and this will continue. We will also retain our constant focus on safe and environmentally responsible operations.'

He added: 'Recent tragic world events - and their economic and political impacts - have presented us all with many new challenges and uncertainties. Whatever lies ahead, ChevronTexaco is committed to providing vital energy to customers around the world and to working with all stakeholders.'