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NEW YORK, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Hess Corp on Mondayannounced it will shut its Port Reading, New Jersey refinery,the second such facility the company was forced to shutter overthe last year.
The New York-based oil company said financial losses in twoof the last three years forced it to shut down the 70,000barrels-per-day plant.
Hess shuttered its joint-venture 350,000 barrel-per-dayrefinery in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands early last year dueto losses that reached $1.3 billion in the preceding threeyears. Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela co-owned the plant.
The New Jersey refinery will be the sixth plant in the U.S.East Coast and Caribbean region to close its doors in the lastthree years as the region's refining business faced a steepstruggle to make profits. Nearly 1.2 million bpd capacity wasshut in the region since 2010.
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SHUT REFINERIES ================================================================PORT READING, NEW JERSEY, USA OWNER: Hess Corp CAPACITY: 70,000 BPDHess announced on Monday that it will sell the refinery and itsNew York Harbor terminal network and exit the refining andterminals business.
ARUBA REFINERY, ARUBA OWNER: Valero Energy Corp CAPACITY: 235,000 BPDValero decided to convert the refinery into a crude oil andrefined products terminal in September 2012 after failing tofind a buyer for the plant. The refinery had been idled sinceMarch 2012 due to weak profit margins since it processes heavysour crudes it bought at a higher cost. Chinese oil giantPetroChina was said to be among strong bidders forthe refinery. ST. CROIX, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS OWNER: Hovensa LLC, a joint-venture between Hess Corp and state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela CAPACITY: 350,000 BPD Hovensa first reduced rates from 500,000-bpd and then shut the350,000-bpd Hovensa refinery in February 2012. Hovensa LLC iscurrently converting the plant to a terminal.
MARCUS HOOK, PENNSYLVANIA, USAOWNER: SunocoCAPACITY: 178,000 BPDSunoco shut the refinery in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, inDecember 2011, due to excess capacity and poor margins. Thecompany received no offers for the plant as a refinery. Sunocois processing natural gas at the plant.
YORKTOWN, VIRGINIA, USA OWNER: Western Refining CAPACITY: 66,300 BPD Western Refining shut the refinery in September 2010 because ofpoor refining margins. The site was subsequently sold to PlainsAll American in December 2011 and is currently in use asa terminal.
EAGLE POINT, NEW JERSEY OWNER: Sunoco Inc CAPACITY: 145,000 BPDSunoco shut the Eagle Point refinery in November 2009, the firstof the casualties of weak demand and slim profit margins amongAtlantic Basin refineries. The site, which is connected underthe Delaware River to Sunoco's other sites -- Philadelphia andMarcus Hook, is a terminal with capacity to receive barges ofBakken crude from Albany.
BERRE, FRANCE OWNER: LyondellBasell CAPACITY: 105,000 BPDIn January 2012, LyondellBasell mothballed the refinery insoutheastern France. CORYTON, ESSEX, UNITED KINGDOM OWNER: Petroplus CAPACITY: 175,000 bpdA joint-venture of UK Ltd, Vopak and Greenergy boughtthe refinery from Petroplus and converted it into a terminal inJune. The refinery had stopped processing crude in May after itsestimated $1 billion price tag failed to attract buyers. TEESSIDE, UNITED KINGDOM OWNER: Petroplus CAPACITY: 117,000 bpdPetroplus idled the plant in April 2009.DUNKIRK, FRANCEOWNER: Total SA CAPACITY: 150,000 BPDA French court authorized oil major Total to permanently closethe refinery in late October 2010 and proceed with plans todevelop non-refining activities on the site. REICHSTETT, FRANCE OWNER: Petroplus CAPACITY: 85,000 bpd Petroplus closed the refinery in eastern France in the secondquarter of 2011. The least profitable of the plants in thePetroPlus refinery stable, the refinery is slated to become aterminal. WILHELMSHAVEN, GERMANY OWNER: ConocoPhillips CAPACITY: 260,000 bpd ConocoPhillips put the simple, hydroskimming refinery up forsale in July 2010. It was bought a year later by private Dutchcompany Hestya. It is currently being used as a terminal.CREMONA, ITALY OWNER: Tamoil CAPACITY: 90,000 bpd Libya's Tamoil shut the Italian refinery at the end of March2011 and said it would pursue plans to convert the plant to astorage site. ================================================================
REFINERIES FOR SALE ================================================================
DARTHMOUTH, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA OWNER: Imperial Oil Ltd CAPACITY: 70,000 BPD Imperial, the Canadian affiliate of Exxon Mobil Corp putthe refinery up for sale in May last year as it struggled withweak Atlantic basin margins. In October, Imperial said therefinery has drawn buyer interest and the company will announcedthe plant's final fate in the first quarter this year. PETIT-COURONNE REFINERY, NORMANDY, FRANCE CAPACITY: 161,000 bpdOWNER: PetroPlusFrance President Francois Hollande said in early January thathis government will provide financial assistance for therefinery if it can find a suitable buyer. A French court has seta February 5 deadline for interested parties to submit bids.
Royal Dutch, which had a six-month oil processingdeal with the troubled plant until mid-December, did not extendits contract making the refinery less attractive to buyers. MILFORD HAVEN, UNITED KINGDOM OWNER: Murphy Oil CAPACITY: 130,000 BPDU.S. oil firm Murphy Oil Corp said it would sell the plant tofocus on oil and gas exploration and its U.S. retail business.Murphy had expanded the refinery in 2010
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REFINERIES SAVED================================================================
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, USA CAPACITY: 330,000 BPDCURRENT OWNER: Philadelphia Energy Solutions FORMER OWNER: Sunoco Inc.Philadelphia Energy Solutions, a joint Venture between CarlyleGroup and Sunoco Inc, runs the plant, which is thelargest refinery on the East Coast. The two firms reached a dealin the summer to keep the plant running with Carlyle overseeingdaily operations while Sunoco retains a minority stake in returnfor its refinery assets. JPMorgan Chase & Co's commodities division will supply the refinery with crude andnon-crude feedstocks and purchase fuel produced by the plant forofftake.
Regional legislators, refinery unions and industry operatorslobbied against the plant's shutdown arguing that fuel shortagesin the East Coast after the plant's potential shutdown couldcreate fuel shortages and hurt U.S. national security.
TRAINER REFINERY, PENNSYLVANIA, USA CAPACITY: 185,000 BPDCURRENT OWNER: Monroe Energy LLC, a subsidiary of Delta AirLines FORMER OWNER: ConocoPhillips, which later spin off itsrefining and downstream arm Phillips 66 Delta bought the refinery from Conoco Phillips in spring lastyear in order to control its jet fuel costs, which had reached$12 billion in 2011. The refinery lost $63 million in the fourthquarter of 2012 due to the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. It willbegin to run cheap shale oil from the Bakken in North Dakota inthe first quarter.
Delta has a contract with BP Plc for crude suppliesand former owner Phillips 66 to sell or swap products other thanthe jet fuel that the airline needs.CRESSIER REFINERY, SWITZERLAND CAPACITY: 68,000 BPDCURRENT OWNER: Varo Energy Holding, a joint venture betweenVitol and Marcel Van Poecke, co-founder of PetroPlus, andfounder of AtlasInvest.FORMER OWNER: PetroplusVitol, the world's largest oil trader, formed the join ventureto buy the refinery in June six months after Swiss-basedPetroplus filed for insolvency. The refinery was fullyoperational by July that year.
ANTWERP REFINERY, BELGIUM CAPACITY: 107,500 bpdCURRENT OWNER: Gunvor, Swiss-based trading houseSELLER: PetroPlusSwiss-based trading firm Gunvor, co-owned by Russian tycoonGennaday Timchecko, bought the refinery in March 2012 frominsolvent Petroplus to expand its infrastructure footprint inEurope's largest oil trading hub. The purchase also providesGunvor with "brick and mortar" assets, giving them a reason tohedge exposure to physical markets ahead of stringentregulations on derivatives trading.
INGOLSTADT REFINERY, GERMANY CAPACITY: 100,000 bpdCURRENT OWNER: Gunvor FORMER OWNER: PetroPlusGunvor bought the refinery from insolvent Petroplus in May andbegan operating the plant in August. The refinery had been instand-by mode for seven months before the deal.
(Compiled by Selam Gebrekidan)
