Americas News
Hess Plans Sale of Terminal Network
Hess Corporation [NYSE:HES] (Hess) says it is pursuing the sale of its network of terminals along the U.S. East Coast and closing its refinery in Port Reading, New Jersey as it refocuses the company on exploration and production.
"By closing the Port Reading refinery and selling our terminal network, Hess will complete its transformation from an integrated oil and gas company to one that is predominantly an exploration and production company and be able to redeploy substantial additional capital to fund its future growth opportunities," said John Hess, chairman and CEO.
Hess and partner Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) announced the closure of their jointly owned HOVENSA LLC refinery in St. Croix last year after it lost $1.3 billion over three years.
The company said its 19 terminals and 28 million-barrel storage capacity are "no longer core" to its operations because of the HOVENSA closure and the company's access to refined products from third parties for its retail and energy marketing business.
Hess also plans to include a 10 million-barrel oil storage terminal at St. Lucia in the Caribbean as part of the sale.
The New Jersey refinery will close by the end of February.
The refinery lost money in two of the past three years, the company said, and it would require new spending to keep it compliant with environmental regulations.
Hess said that, in addition to the proceeds of the terminal network sale, the deal should release about $1 billion in working capital that it can use for further growth.
