BP one step closer to completion of Carson refinery and southwest US retail asset divestment
BP announced today that it expects to complete the sale of its Carson Refinery and Southwest U.S. retail assets to Tesoro Corporation in the second quarter of this year now that the transaction has received U.S. Federal Trade Commission clearance.
Under the terms of the deal announced in August 2012, the assets include BP’s Carson, California refinery and related logistics and marketing assets in the region. Since that time, BP and Tesoro have been providing information to regulatory authorities to enable the parties to gain approval to complete the transaction for proceeds of approximately $2.5 billion.
“With FTC clearance, we have taken a significant step closer to completion of this sale and to the strategic refocusing of our U.S. fuels portfolio,” said Iain Conn, chief executive of BP’s global refining and marketing business. “I am very proud of the team’s work to achieve clearance of the sale and for consistently safe and high quality operations throughout the process. BP’s future U.S. fuels business soon will be firmly rooted around three, highly sophisticated northern refineries, which are crude feedstock-advantaged, and tied to strong marketing businesses.”
About BP in the US
BP has invested more in the United States over the last five years than any other oil and gas company. With more than $55 billion in capital spending between 2008 and 2012, BP invests more in the U.S. than in any other country. The company is the nation’s second largest producer of oil and gas, a major oil refiner and a leader in alternative energy sources. With 21,000 US employees, BP supports nearly a quarter of a million domestic jobs through its business activities. For more information, visit www.bp.com.
Notes to editors
- The Carson Refinery is one of the largest on the U.S. West Coast, with a crude distillation capacity of 266,000 bpd. It became part of BP through the 2000 acquisition of ARCO. It employs over 1,100 staff and in total the divested business employs approximately 1,750 staff.
- The transaction includes the refinery and integrated terminals and pipelines, as well as marketing agreements with about 800 retail sites in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada.
- The refinery is located on 650 acres in Los Angeles County, near the Long Beach and Los Angeles Harbors. The refinery began operations in 1938. It processes crude oil from Alaska’s North Slope, the Middle East and West Africa. Processing equipment includes the largest fluid catalytic cracker in California, two cokers and distillate hydrocracking.
- BP’s 51 percent interest in a nominal 400 megawatt cogeneration facility located at the refinery is included in the sale.
- BP’s Wilmington Coke Calciner located about five miles from the refinery is also part of the sale. The plant occupies about 17 acres. The plant employs approximately 40 people and produces 350,000 metric tons of calcinated coke per year.
- Logistics assets included in the sale include ownership of Berth 121 facility improvements and equipment, Marine Terminals 2 and 3 and the LA basin pipelines system that moves crude, products and intermediates to and from the refinery.
- Terminals included in the sale are Carson Crude, East Hynes, West Hynes, Hathaway, Carson Products, Colton, Vinvale and San Diego.
- BP is completing a number of major investments in its other US refineries, including a large investment program to transform its 413,000 bpd capacity Whiting, Ind., refinery to process heavy, sour crudes, expected to come on stream in the second half of this year; a recently-completed clean diesel upgrading project at its 234,000 bpd Cherry Point, Wash., refinery; and the recent start-up of a continuous catalytic reformer to the 160,000 bpd capacity Toledo, Ohio, refinery (a 50:50 joint venture with partner Husky Energy Inc.).
- BP will continue to maintain a number of business interests in California, including a large ARCO retail and logistics presence in the northern part of the state. BP will also continue the distribution and marketing of lubricants through its Castrol brand and remain active in the California natural gas and power sector. In addition, BP will also continue to support the development of renewable energy sources in California through its Global Biofuels Technology Center in San Diego, and the Energy Biosciences Institute at UC Berkeley.
