Sunoco to decide on sale of Tulsa refinery by summer

摘要

Sunoco expects to decide the fate of its refinery in Tulsa, Okla., by June or July, executives said during a post-earnings conference call. Referring to the evaluation process as "ongoing," CFO Tom Hofmann said the Philadelphia-based company was talking to "a number of people" and evaluating options for the 90,000-b/d refinery. A second round of bidding ended in mid-April, sources say. Sunoco began shopping the plant through Deutsche Bank in late 2007 and is said to be looking for a price well above $500 million. Some believe that Sunoco's non-transferable agreement with EPA to sell higher-sulfur distillate in the region may prove enough of a hurdle to nix a deal. In addition, buyers may be cooling to the prospect of taking on landlocked refineries amid crummy refining margins.