Page 4 - LatAmOil Week 25 2021

COMMENTARY Y
LatAmOil COMMENTAR LatAmOil

(Photo: Limetree Bay Ventures)

USVI refinery to suspend

operations indefinitely

Limetree Bay Ventures’ plant near St. Croix suspends operations indefinitely, citing financial strains

LIMETREE Bay Ventures, a company set up by “Regrettably, the company has been unable
EIG Global Energy Partners and ArcLight Cap- to secure the necessary funding and will be
WHAT: ital Partners of the US, appears to have given up required to reduce the refinery’s workforce by
Limetree Bay Ventures on its plan to bring the Limetree Bay refinery, approximately 271 employees, effective Septem-
has opted to keep its located near St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands, ber 19, 2021.”
refinery near St. Croix off back online.
line indefinitely. On June 21, the company announced that Environmental angles
the oil-processing plant’s operations had been Limetree Bay Ventures’ decision is likely to be
WHY: suspended indefinitely. hailed by environmental organisations.
Efforts to restart the plant It did not say whether it was still hoping to The refinery has long been the target of crit-
have been complicat- move ahead with work at the refinery, which icism on environmental grounds. Its previous
ed by environmental resumed operations briefly in early 2021 after owner Hovensa, a joint venture between the US
violations.
going idle in 2012, at any point in the future. independent Hess and Venezuela’s national oil
Instead, it stressed that it had no choice but to company (NOC) PdVSA, said about a decade
WHAT NEXT: take this approach because it could not cover the ago that it would have to spend about $700mn to
The plant’s closure will
affect the US territory’s costs of the re-opening. clean up old oil spills and upgrade its equipment
economy negatively in the “Since the temporary suspension of its petro- to meet emissions standards. But Hovensa never
long run. leum refining and processing operations on committed to paying out that sum. Instead, it
May 12, 2021, Limetree Bay has been working only spent a small portion of that amount before
to obtain capital to assist in its restart efforts,” 2016, when Limetree Bay Ventures gained con-
Limetree Bay Ventures said in a statement. trol of the plant.

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