LUTCHERÂ â The pending closure of the Shell Oil refinery in Convent, an industrial mainstay and top employer in St. James Parish, could cost th… "It been a great plant with great people, and it's a painful thing to do, but we're hoping to find a lot of folks jobs and, hopefully, we sell the plant, too," said Allen Pertuit, the Convent refinery's general manager, in a recent interview. Pertuit addressed the St. James Parish School Board about the planned closure last week. The school system, which is trying to figure out how to adjust to the expected loss of revenue from the departure of St. James' top taxpayer, plans to ask voters to refinance and extend the schools' long-term debt and shift a portion of the property taxes that pay for that debt toward operations, school officials said.