Valero Energy Corp. will acquire Chevron’s Pembroke refinery in Wales, U.K., in addition to extensive marketing and logistics assets throughout the U.K. and Ireland. The USD 730 million agreement excludes working capital. Currently, based on market prices, working capital has an estimated value of USD 1 billion, although the final value will be determined at closing. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2011, subject to regulatory approvals and the company intends to fund the transaction using available cash. The Pembroke refinery has a total throughput capacity of 270,000 barrels per day; of that, 220,000 barrels per day is crude capacity. It is one of Western Europe’s major and most complex refineries, with a Nelson complexity rating of 11.8. The refinery has an estimated cash operating cost 25% below Valero’s average, making it a competitive addition to Valero’s portfolio. Comparable to Valero’s other refineries, Pembroke can process a vast and flexible slate of feedstocks, having used over 60 different types of crude oil in the past 10 years. It has access to discounted crudes, and has a product slate of 44% gasoline, 40% distillates, 11% fuel oil and 5% other products. Its eight-berth deepwater dock, which can accommodate very large crude carriers, is used to receive feedstock cargoes by ship at its eight-berth deepwater dock. The purchase price includes ownership interests in four major product pipelines and 11 fuel terminals, a 14,000 bpd aviation fuels business, and a network of more than 1000 Texaco-branded wholesale sites. Altogether, over 50% of the refinery’s production is distributed through this integrated marketing and logistics system.
