Refinery Sold, DeJongh, G.O.A.T?

One can only hope that the legislature will look at this proposal VERY carefully while public hearings should also be held with full disclosure of the principals involved. Principals have not been identified and the corporation was formed for the sole purpose of executing this deal.

We can only hope that they don't screw it up in the process.

One can only hope that the legislature will look at this proposal VERY carefully while public hearings should also be held with full disclosure of the principals involved. Principals have not been identified and the corporation was formed for the sole purpose of executing this deal.

My sentiments exactly.... I agree 100%

Ditto!

not feeling real comfortable with the whole deal. smells kind of funny to me

If I had to take it or leave it, I'd take it for sure.

This appears to be a scam. This is a management company not a refining company with a parent company. It is Hovensa's way of transferring the plant without having the liability of the almost $ billion dollars of clean up.
Then the new company declares bankruptcy and Hovensa got of scot free.

Why is deJongh rushing to have this signed in two weeks. And where are the assets of this company? This is a scam. My initial joy has evaporated quickly when I found out that the new owners include Chamber of commerce and friend of deJongh Eckerd. Is he worth a billion? And when I found out that they are only bringing 700 jobs total compared to total of 600 we have now. One hundred more jobs. Fellow bloggers, this is a scam.

missjustice, after reading the initial article i felt the same way.

MissJustice, just because YOU don't understand how deals like this are funded doesn't make them a scam. And, Mark Eckard is not one of the new owners. It must be terrifying living in your paranoid little world.

Half of those 600 jobs (which is really 500) were directly related to the tank cleaning and other clean up activities, and they end on Friday since the job has been completed.

Let's look at the facts:
- Atlantic Basin Refining Inc is not listed as registered corporation in the usual places like Delaware, Nevada, New York or the USVI. There is no information on their management.
--> Knowing who is behind ABR, their skills and experience would allow us to understand the driving forces behind this deal.
- ABR needs to raise well over $1b in order to get the refinery restarted. There is no information who will back them up. And whatever organization does must compute the liability of having to dismantle the refinery if the project is abandoned.
--> Knowing ABR's ability to raise funds would alleviate concerns about their intent to operate vs. liquidate.
- There are quite a few other refineries for sale. If the intent is to restart, why do so when the crude must be shipped in and the refined shipped out (even when exempt from the Jones Act),
--> Knowing their business plan at a top level would provide a better way to assess how they are going to succeed.

The Governor and the Legislature owes us more information before we jump to conclusions.

Interesting excerpts from the news:

"According to senators, Atlantic Basin Refining plans initially to purchase only the HOVENSA company and not its assets."

"The engineering assessment phase is necessary for the company to get financing for purchasing the assets of the refinery, according to Sen. Sammuel Sanes."

"The study will help determine whether the company will purchase the refinery and will help determine the price, according to Cole."

"After that assessment is complete, if the company moves forward, it will begin an 18-month construction phase, during which approximately 1,000 people could be put to work, senators said."

"Senators said they have not yet seen the proposed agreement with the V.I. government."

"Sen. Nereida Rivera-O'Reilly said she is "disappointed," noting the lack of funding at this point, as well as the fact that the refinery when operating would have 500 or so employees.

"It's a much smaller operation than we're accustomed to," she said, noting that senators also have not seen the agreement."

"Sen. Terrence Nelson said he had some concerns, such as that the governor will try to push the legislation through without giving senators time to do their due diligence."

"Buckley said that senators were told HOVENSA would no longer invest in the refinery after Nov. 15, and therefore, that date has become our deadline."

Jua??? Things that make you go hmmm...

Residents should be given more information, a proper debrief, an open forum, and be listened to.

I thought I'd never something like this, but I do agree with a senator here: Mrs. Rivera-O'Reilly.

Interesting how things went quiet for a while then, all of the sudden the week before elections, all this sketchy information comes out. I will remain cautiously optimistic.

The VI Gov't will screw this up, like they do most everything else. Can you say WAPA?

mixie and rowdy both very good posts

DeJongh and ABR CEO sign operating agreement... Pending approval from the senate, of course...

http://stcroixsource.com/content/news/local-news/2014/10/29/dejongh-atlantic-basin-official-sign-operating-agreement-refinery

OK, we have a name, Robert Moore CEO of Atlantic Basin Refinery VI. No middle initial. Unfortunately about as useful as John Doe to figure out who he is.
I noticed the "VI" at the end of the company name "Atlantic Basin Refinery VI" in the article. Nothing on the DLCA search site. Anyone close enough to the DLCA office to examine public records -- I would assume that whatever company was formed recently would be required to be registered in the USVI?

A government website up-to-the-minute up to date? LOL.

They might not have to do that until legislature approves, would be my guess.

They might not have to do that until legislature approves, would be my guess.

Register with DLCA?

Here's a tidbit for you...

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=565224&privcapId=1224056&previousCapId=269683&previousTitle=Equity%20Oil%20Co.

Here's a nice article in the Wall Street Journal. How come they don't seem concerned enough to speculate about the new owners or where the financing will come from?

http://online.wsj.com/articles/st-croix-moves-to-reopen-oil-refinery-1414537126

Here's a nice article in the Wall Street Journal. How come they don't seem concerned enough to speculate about the new owners or where the financing will come from?

http://online.wsj.com/articles/st-croix-moves-to-reopen-oil-refinery-1414537126

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Can you cut and paste the entire story?

Here...

"Big St. Croix Refinery May Reopen Soon
The Wall Street Journal | Wednesday, October 29, 2014

A big oil refinery in the U.S. Virgin Islands that has been closed for two years soon could be operating under new owners.

The Hovensa refinery in St. Croix, a joint venture between Hess Corp. and Venezuela's national oil company, was one of the largest in the U.S. before the companies shut it down.

In its previous life, the refinery processed heavy oil from Venezuela and sold much of the gasoline and diesel it produced in the U.S. But if the plant reopens it probably will process U.S. oil, getting crude that can't find a home at stateside refineries working at full tilt.

It also would have some cost advantages over U.S. facilities. The so-called Jones Act requires all goods shipped between U.S. ports to move on vessels built in the U.S. and sailed by American crews. That makes the tankers more expensive to rent -- and harder to find -- than foreign tankers crewed with less-expensive sailors from other countries.

But while St. Croix is a U.S. territory, it is exempt from the Jones Act.

The St. Croix refinery has some higher costs than U.S. rivals, such as for power. But Hart Energy analyst Greg Haas estimated that the St. Croix refinery could save between $2 and $6 per barrel of oil in shipping costs by using less-expensive foreign tankers. "That would put them on par with domestic stateside refineries," he said.

The refinery's owners have reached a tentative agreement to sell the plant to a new company called Atlantic Basin Refining Inc., according to a news release from Virgin Islands Gov. John de Jongh Jr.

Hess said it was still negotiating the sale.

State oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA couldn't be reached for comment.

Hess built the St. Croix plant in 1966 and by the 1970s had expanded it to become, at one point, the largest in the world, processing up to 650,000 barrels of oil a day. Production was lower in the years before the plant closed. The company sold a 50% stake to Petroleos de Venezuela in 1998 and adapted equipment to process the heavier crude that is pumped in Venezuela.

A global economic slowdown in 2008 cut into demand for fuel, and the St. Croix plant closed.

The proposed deal is contingent on the Virgin Islands Legislature approving an operating agreement reached with Atlantic Basin Refining, the governor's statement said. Revamping the plant is expected to take two years and cost more than $1 billion. "

Here's a nice article in the Wall Street Journal. How come they don't seem concerned enough to speculate about the new owners or where the financing will come from?

http://online.wsj.com/articles/st-croix-moves-to-reopen-oil-refinery-1414537126

I read it this morning... IMHO, it is just a very generic article reporting on the basics...