Limetree Bay Energy plans to close the refinery in St Croix, US Virgin Islands, for an indefinite period citing severe financial constraints.
The refinery had reopened in February after remaining closed for almost a decade.
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
However, last month, the St Croix refinery was forced to close due to the leakage of odours that affected nearby neighbourhoods.
Since the temporary closure of the refinery on 12 May 2021, Limetree Bay has been seeking necessary funding to help in restarting petroleum refining and processing operations but failed.
The company will now trim staff headcount at the refinery by nearly 271. The retrenchment exercise will take effect on 19 September 2021.
Limetree Bay CEO Jeff Rinker said: “This was an extremely difficult decision for us, and we are truly saddened to announce the suspension of our restart plans for the refinery.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalData“Unfortunately, this is our only option, given the extreme financial constraints facing the company.”
The Limetree Bay Refining has a peak processing capacity of more than 200,000 barrels of petroleum feedstock per day.
The closure decision does not impact operations at the 34Mbbl crude and petroleum products storage and marine terminal facility, which serves the refinery and third-party customers.
In a press statement, EIG-backed Limetree Bay said: “Limetree Bay will begin preparing the refinery for an extended shutdown, which includes safely purging gases from all of the units and removing any residual oil and products in the lines.”
