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Valero plans to sell Aruba refinery in second quarter
Valero Energy Corp., the largest US refiner, plans to sell its Aruba refinery in the second quarter to focus on improvements to plants that can process cheaper oil.
The company plans to bankroll improvements at its most complex plants by selling off its least desirable assets. Valero sold its 120-year-old refinery in Lima, Ohio, for $1.9 billion in July 2007.
"Aruba, I believe is going to happen,'' Klesse said today during a presentation to analysts and investors in New York. "We have a transaction and we have a buyer and everything here fits very nicely.''
The Aruba buyer may be Rio De Janeiro-based Petroleo Brasileiro SA or Switzerland-based Petroplus Holdings AG, Roger Read, an analyst at Natixis Bleichroeder Inc. in New York, said in a telephone interview.
Refineries are selling for less this year than they did in 2007 because high oil prices have narrowed processing margins, making the business look less attractive, Read said. Financing is also more difficult because of the credit crunch, he said.
"The challenge to selling Aruba is that it needs a lot of additional investment,'' Read said. ``Whoever buys it is going to have to put a lot of money into it.''
Source: Caribbean Net News
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