Over the weekend, PBF Energy closed on its acquisition of Shell’s Martinez, CA, refinery, marking the first completed U.S. refinery transaction of 2020. The closure of that deal may seem unremarkable, but it’s rare for more than two to three transactions involving individual refineries to take place in the U.S. in a given year, and there are as many as eight other refineries on the market. These include two each in the Philadelphia area, the Midcontinent and the Rockies, and one each in Washington state and Alaska. Why are so many refineries on the block? Today, we continue our series with a look at the facilities said to be on the market in PADDs 4 and 5.
As we said in Part 1 of this two-part blog series, all but a handful of the 135 refineries in the U.S. were built prior to 1970 – some as early as the late 1800s. For a variety of reasons, the best of these facilities tend to operate for long periods of time without frequent changes in ownership. Since 2013, excluding mergers and spinoffs of companies, an average of ~2 refinery transactions have taken place per year. In Part 1, we focused on the refineries for sale in PADDs 1 and 2. These included the two Philadelphia-area refineries looking for buyers: (1) Philadelphia Energy Solutions’ 335-Mb/d, fire-damaged PES facility, which has since announced a potential acquisition by Hilco Redevelopment Partners, and (2) Delta Air Lines’ subsidiary Monroe Energy’s 185-Mb/d refinery in Trainer, PA. We also discussed two Midcontinent-area refineries owned by CVR Energy: the 132-Mb/d Coffeyville, KS, refinery and the 75-Mb/d Wynnewood, OK, plant.
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Today, we turn our attention to four refineries located farther west. We begin with two in the Rockies:
- ExxonMobil is reportedly shopping its 60-Mb/d Billings, MT (bright green rectangle with dashed outline and dot in Figure 1), refinery to potential buyers. The refinery was built by Carter Oil Co. in 1949 and was eventually folded into the ExxonMobil umbrella through legacy companies such as Standard Oil and Humble Oil.
- Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) is said to be evaluating a potential sale of its 61-Mb/d Salt Lake City, UT, refinery (dark green rectangle with dashed outline and dot). MPC has owned the refinery since the company’s 2018 merger with Andeavor (formerly known as Tesoro Corp.). Andeavor/Tesoro had owned the refinery since 2001, when it acquired the facility from BP.
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About the song
"Shop Around" was written by Smokey Robinson and Berry Gordy. It would become the first million-selling record for The Miracles, and for Berry Gordy's Tamla/Motown Records. Two versions of this song were recorded and released, the first a bluesy version for the local market in Detroit in September 1960. The second version, released in October 1960, was the more polished rendition that went on to become a hit record in the U.S. market. Recorded in Studio A at Hitsville U.S.A. in Detroit, the Berry Gordy-produced single went to #1 on the Billboard R&B chart and #2 on the Hot 100. "Shop Around" would be the fourth cut on side one of The Miracles’ debut album, Hi...We're the Miracles, released in June 1961. Personnel on the record were: Smokey Robinson (lead vocals), Claudette Rogers Robinson (backing vocals), Pete Moore (backing vocals), Ronnie White (backing vocals), Marv Tarplin (guitar), Joe Hunter (piano), James Jamerson (bass), Richard Allen (drums), Ron Wakefield (tenor sax) and Mike Terry (baritone sax).
The Miracles were an American rhythm and blues group formed in Detroit in 1955 by Smokey Robinson, Pete Moore and Ronnie White as "The Five Chimes." The group changed its name in 1958 to The Miracles. They were the first act signed to Berry Gordy's Tamla/Motown record label. The group changed its name to Smokey Robinson and the Miracles in 1965. They released 25 studio albums, three live albums, seven compilation albums and 57 singles. The group is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Vocal Group Hall of Fame and Doo-Wop Hall of Fame, and has songs inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Lead singer Smokey Robinson is also an inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist. Early group member Bobby Rogers kept The Miracles alive as a touring unit until 2011. Smokey Robinson left the original group in 1969 and has had a successful solo career as a singer, songwriter and record producer. He continues to record and perform.
