Par Pacific Holdings Inc. completed its $310 million cash buyout of Exxon Mobil Corp.'s Billings refinery in Montana and other associated assets.
The refinery processes 63,000 b/d of Western Canadian and regional Rocky Mountain crude oil. The deal also included a 65% stake in a nearby cogeneration facility; the 70-mile, 55,000 b/d Silvertip pipeline; a 40% stake in the 750-mile, 65,000-b/d Yellowstone refined products pipeline; and four wholly owned and three joint venture refined product terminals in Montana and Washington, according to a June 1 news release. The refinery and logistic assets have a total storage capacity of up to 4.1 million barrels.
Par Pacific is considering renewable fuel options to add to the Billings refinery's conventional fuel production. The company's refinery and logistics business will go by the name Par Montana.
The Billings refinery was part of a failed deal between Exxon and PBF Energy Inc. in 2016, according to a Reuters report. It was considered for divestment again three years later at a price of $500 million, with Valero Energy Corp. and Marathon Petroleum Corp. mentioned as potential buyers.
Exxon launched an aggressive asset disposal program in 2019 and told analysts that the company could sell $25 billion in holdings by 2025. Most recently, the integrated oil and gas giant, through its subsidiary XTO Energy Inc., agreed in May to sell oil- and gas-producing assets in the Williston Basin to a Chord Energy Corp. subsidiary for $375 million.
