MCCOMB – An oil boom may be heading to the Pike, Amite and Wilkinson county areas, but Lincoln County should be able to reap many of the benefits and few of the risks.

     Called the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale project, the oil field, which lays 15,000 feet below the southern part of Southwest Mississippi, is projected to contain some 7 billion barrels of oil. But it is not a sure thing and it could be impacted by the price of oil in the world market, environmental concerns and governmental regulations.

     According to Cliff Brumfield, executive director for the Brookhaven-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce, the influx of oil and gas companies into the area could mean an increase in jobs for the county, as well as provide many other benefits.

     “It’s a tremendous economic opportunity,” he said. “We might not be at the epicenter of the activity, but we will benefit from it if and when it comes.

     “Companies will come that don’t necessarily want to be in the middle of it,” he continued. “They’ll want to be closer to the metro area. They will find Brookhaven attractive.”

     Brumfield said another benefit would be from employees of the industry who will choose to bring their families to Brookhaven or other areas instead of right in the middle of the action.

     “It’s common to drive 30-45 minutes to work,” he said. “We have hospitals, retailers and good schools that they’ll find suitable.”

     Brumfield’s comments followed a meeting at the Percy Quin State Park Convention Center in Pike County Thursday morning, during which energy analyst Charlotte Batson, of Batson & Company, presented her findings on the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale development and how it would affect the area. Officials from Pike, Amite and Wilkinson counties, along with the Southwest Mississippi Partnership, commissioned Batson because the Tuscaloosa encompasses parts of all three counties.

     “This area is on the cusp of something very exciting,” she said. “This area is going to look very different in five years.”

     Batson said that testing being done on some 4,000 wells in the Tuscaloosa have been producing at very high rates, some as much as 761 barrels of crude oil a day. So far, 1.3 million acres in the region are under lease with companies such as Indigo Minerals, Encana Corp. and Denbury Resources.

     Batson said in addition to the high amounts of oil being collected so far, other things that attract big oil companies to the area include access to pipelines, refineries and ports for exporting.

     Batson pointed out in her presentation that it’s important for area officials to make regulations that will both attract businesses and protect the area’s resources. Some impacted areas would be roads, water sources and housing developments.

     “Unprecedented demands will be made on local infrastructure,” she said. “It requires a lot of people working together.”

     But she said that the potential for this area is enormous. If the oil industry indeed makes a home in the Tuscaloosa, it will bring more businesses here, creating jobs and the economy in the process.

     “All indicators (of the success of the field) are very positive,” she said. “It’s a ‘perfect storm’ of opportunities.”