Grand Bahama’s jobless rate may be headed for decline.

Chairman of Oban Energies Oil Storage and Refinery Company Peter Kreiger has revealed plans to have a workforce primarily made up of Bahamians.

“Our local supplier program will ensure that there is a direct financial investment in the local community and it will commit our suppliers to local Bahamians. Our employment program will preserve 80% for local Bahamians,” he said.

“These jobs will be long term, sustainable and underpinned by training programs.”

The plan is to hire hundreds during the construction phase and hire a significant number of “well-paying” permanent jobs for Bahamians once construction is completed.

There are also the indirect jobs.

News of Oban’s significant job pool was the subject of former Progressive Liberal Party Chairman, Bradley Roberts’ latest press release.

In it, Mr Roberts questioned how Oban is projecting 600 jobs when other companies in Grand Bahama like Buckeye, whose operation is significantly larger at 28 million barrels in storage capacity, employs only 160 persons.

Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis fired back with this response.

“The oil depots or storage facilities in Grand Bahama now are mainly concerned with storage. You will notice that this is both a storage and refinery hence an increase in job numbers,” he said.

Messrs. Minnis and Kreige’s comments came during yesterday’s Heads of Agreement signing with US-based Oban.

Once all the i’s are dotted and the t’s crossed, the $4 million agreement is expected to increase exponentially to $4 billion.

Mr. Kreger said his team has worked very hard in recent years to get to this point and that once the ink dries, the focus will be to stimulate the local economy.