Limetree Bay Refinery (known also as Hovensa, styled HOVENSA) is an oil refinery located on the island of Saint Croix in the United States Virgin Islands. The refinery was a joint venture between Hess Corporation and PDVSA. For most of its operating life as Hovensa, it supplied heating oil and gasoline to the U.S. Gulf Coast and the eastern seaboard with the crude mainly sourced from Venezuela. Previously it had sourced its crude feedstock from a number of other countries including Libya. At a capacity of about 500,000 barrels per day (79,000 m3/d), in 2010 the refinery was among the 10 largest in the world.[1][2][3]
 | |
  Refinery location in St. Croix | |
| City | Christiansted |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 17°42′16″N 64°45′19″W / 17.70444°N 64.75528°W |
| Refinery details | |
| Operator | Hovensa LLC |
| Owner(s) | Hess Corporation, PDVSA |
| Commissioned | 1966 |
| Capacity | 646,000 bbl/d (102,700 m3/d) |
Hess Oil Virgin Islands Corporation started refinery construction in January 1966 having purchased the property from Annie de Chabert and, in October of the same year, the refinery started operating.[4] In 1974, the capacity of refinery was expanded up to its peak at 650,000 barrels per day (103,000 m3/d). Hovensa LLC, which took over the refinery operatorship, was established in 1998.[citation needed]
In January 2011, Hovensa paid a $5.3 million penalty for Clean Air Act violations.[5] The company closed the refinery in 2012, operating the property continued as a storage terminal only[6] until that closed in 2015. A purchase proposal by Atlantic Basin Refining was vetoed by the USVI Senate, but in November 2015 a joint venture (of ArcLight Capital Partners and Freepoint Commodities) called Limetree Bay Terminals succeeded in purchasing the Refinery.[7]
On November 30, 2018 Limetree Bay announced it had closed on $1.25 billion dollars of financing for the refinery to partially reopen by the end of 2019.[8]
Hovensa ultimately restarted the refinery in January 2021 after almost a decade offline. During a gas flare incident in May 2022, oil droplets emitted from a smokestack rained down on nearby houses, fouling rainwater collection systems.[9] Residents across the island reported feeling nauseous and ill from the release of fumes.[10] The plant shut down voluntarily and two days later, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an 60-day mandatory shutdown order.[9] Limetree Bay filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 12.[11]
Port Hamilton Refining and Transportation LLLP (PHRT) won the bankruptcy auction with a bid of $62 million in June 2022.[12][13] The new owner says it will reopen it when it is safe to do so.[10] PHRT sued the EPA regarding which permits will be needed to reopen.[14]
For two weeks in August, 2022, a fired burned in the petroleum coke conveyor loading system, prompting an EPA inspection. The company agreed to sell off and remove from the site ammonia, liquefied petroleum gas, and an amine solution, which presented safety hazards.[12]
References
edit- ^ "Omar Shuts Down Hovensa". Downstream Today. AFX News Limited. October 15, 2008. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
- ^ "Hovensa Refinery Reopens". Downstream Today. AFX News Limited. October 20, 2008. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
- ^ Daker, Susan (June 30, 2009). "Hovensa Defers Capital Projects, Trims Workforce". Downstream Today. Dow Jones Newswires. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
- ^ Collins, John (April 18, 2002). "Instability In Venezuela Being Watched Closely". Puerto Rico Herald. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
- ^ "2nd Largest Refinery To Pay $5.3 Million Penalty For Clean Air Act Violations" (Press release). Employee Medical Credentialing Services. January 27, 2011. Archived from the original on March 17, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
- ^ Bronis, Jason (January 18, 2012). "Hovensa LLC to shut Virgin Islands oil refinery". Toledo Blade. Associated Press. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
- ^ Bankes-Hughes, Lesley (November 6, 2018). "Americas: Former Hovensa St Croix Refinery Could Restart in Late 2019". bunkerspot.com. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
- ^ "Limetree Bay Ventures Closes $1.25 Billion Financing to Restart Its Refinery in St. Croix". prnewswire.com. November 30, 2018. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
- ^ a b Fredreka Schouten. "A Caribbean island bet its future on petrochemicals. Then oil rained down on homes". CNN.
- ^ a b Joselow, Maxine (October 28, 2022). "EPA closed a refinery that rained oil. Now it's a 'ticking time bomb.'". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
- ^ EnergiesNet (2021-12-22). "St Croix refinery auction taps new winning bidder - EnergiesNet". Retrieved 2023-11-01.
- ^ a b Laura Sanicola. "U.S. EPA approves hazardous chemicals removal from St. Croix refinery". Reuters.
- ^ June 23, 2022 notice from Government House in Christiansted for U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, Case 21-32351.
- ^ Janeka Simon (July 25, 2023), Court Rules EPA Overstepped Authority Regarding Port Hamilton Refinery Restart, The Virgin Islands Consortium
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