Par Pacific closes acquisition of ExxonMobil’s Billings refinery

Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. has successfully closed its previously announced acquisition of the Billings, Montana, U.S.A., refinery and associated marketing and logistics assets from ExxonMobil Corporation and two of its subsidiaries. 

The base purchase price of the acquisition is USD310 million, including USD30 million Par Pacific funded at signing, and was paid with cash on hand. The hydrocarbon inventory associated with the Billings Acquisition was primarily financed by the company’s ABL credit facility.

Going forward, the refinery and logistics business will be known as Par Montana.

“We are extremely pleased to close the Billings Acquisition and welcome the Par Montana team to Par Pacific,” said William Pate, chief executive officer. “This acquisition significantly enhances our scale and geographic diversification. We expect the transaction to be immediately accretive to our earnings and cash flow.”

The Billings refinery is a 63,000 barrel per day (bpd) high-conversion, complex facility that processes low-cost Western Canadian and regional Rocky Mountain crude oil. The transaction also includes a 65% interest in an adjacent cogeneration facility and an expansive PADD IV & V marketing and logistics network.

The logistics assets include the wholly owned 70-mile, 55,000 bpd Silvertip Pipeline, a 40% interest in the 750-mile, 65,000 bpd Yellowstone refined products pipeline, and four wholly owned and three joint venture refined product terminals located in Montana and Washington. Total storage capacity across the refinery and logistics locations totals 4.1 million barrels. Further, Par Pacific will supply approximately 250 Exxon- and Mobil-branded retail locations as part of the arrangement with ExxonMobil.

The Billings Acquisition enhances Par Pacific’s existing Pacific Northwest market position in the United States. Par Pacific said it is evaluating renewable fuels opportunities to supplement the Billings refinery’s conventional fuel production and utilise its existing market position in the state of Washington to reduce the carbon intensity of its fuel sales in accordance with the recently enacted Washington low-carbon fuel standard.

“We are focused on small-scale projects to improve throughput and reliability at the Billings refinery to increase rates closer to nameplate capacity,” said Will Monteleone, president. “We look forward to working with our talented new team members on identifying and executing these projects.”

Par Pacific Holdings, Inc., headquartered in Houston, Texas, U.S.A., owns and operates market-leading energy, infrastructure and retail businesses. Par Pacific’s strategy is to acquire and develop downstream energy businesses in logistically complex, niche markets. Throughout the U.S. Pacific Northwest, the Rockies, and Hawaii, Par Pacific operates an integrated downstream network, including 218,000 bpd of combined refining capacity across four locations, related multimodal logistics systems and 121 retail locations.