The biggest oil refinery on America’s east coast has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the District of Delaware, according to Bloomberg.
Parent company Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES), which made the filing, owns the south Philadelphia refining complex comprising two plants – Girard Point and Point Breeze – which together can process 335,000 barrels of crude daily.
They supply more than a quarter of the US east coast’s refining capacity.
Under the terms of the filing PES will restructure $525 million of debt and bring in new owners.
Presently it is a joint venture of Carlyle Group and Sunoco Inc.
The deal also allows the company to continue operating as it works out a recovery, so it will not negatively impact the refinery’s 1,100 workers, their pay or benefits.
PES blamed its financial plight on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) which requires refiners to bled renewable fuels (or biofuels) into transportation fuel or to buy credits called Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) from refiners who do.
The cost of those bought RINs was hard to bear, PES said.
