Senator Vialet ‘Appalled’ At Latest HOVENSA Deal; Calls On Governor To Reject It

ST. CROIX — The new agreement signed between the owners of HOVENSA and ArcLight, the company that has agreed to only purchase the terminal segments of the refinery on the south shore of this island, seems to be dead on arrival, as senators have expressed in private and public their disdain with the agreement, and the owners’ seeming intention to loose themselves from all liabilities.

One such senator is freshman Kurt Vialet. The Democrat says he is “appalled” by what the owners  of HOVENSA are trying to get away with, and is calling on Governor Kenneth Mapp not to give in to the “bullying,” and urging him to reject any language that forces the government to release HOVENSA, Hess Oil Virgin Islands Corp., or HOVIC, and PDVSA V.I. from all liabilities and contracts.

“Once again, a Corporate Goliath hides behind the legal veil. Not only is HOVENSA filing bankruptcy which may only yield pennies to the dollar, it appears as though they are tag teaming with potential buyers. Part of their proposed sale agreement requires that the Virgin Islands Government completely release current and former owners of the refinery from contracts and liabilities with the government,” Vialet said.

He added: “While the government has yet to negotiate terms with the potential buyer, Limetree Holdings, the proposal that was presented seems like deja vu.  The people of the Virgin Islands are being wooed yet again with promises of employment and training posted in bright lights while terms that will outlive most of us and exemptions from virtually all taxes lurk in the shadows.

“We absolutely cannot afford to make the same mistakes. We cannot give in, we must not give up. Let us use this experience to demonstrate [to] our children that bullying is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” Vialet concluded.

At a press conference held on September 14 at Government House here, Mapp announced that the owners of HOVENSA had reached a deal with a company called ArcLight Capital Partners, LLC for the sale of the facility’s oil storage, racking and docking segments. But the terms of the deal were not divulged at the press conference.

Mapp said the principles of the now-shuttered refinery — HESS Oil and PDVSA — introduced him and his team to ArcLight as a company with the wherewithal to reopen and maintain the portions of the refinery that it has agreed to purchase.

ArcLight Partners, LLC, according to the governor, is a lean, energy-focused private equity investment firm that has created a Virgin Islands-based company, with the parent firm being based in Boston, Massachusetts.

The company is a 29-person investment team and a 400-person asset management team and affiliates, the governor stated. It has invested approximately $13 billion in 90 transactions since its inception in 2001. The firm has also owned interest in midstream companies, with its most recent round of financing amounting to $5.6 billion, according to Mapp.

“ArcLight Capital Partners, LLC investment focus is on large to midstream infrastructure in the energy industry. It owns storage terminals, pipelines and processing systems,” Mapp said. “It is spread over six affiliated entities in North America, and owns 100 million barrels of storage capacity, 19 terminal facilities and 9 miles of oil pipelines.”

Hess Oil revealed the purchase price for the segments of the refinery that ArcLight has agreed to buy as $190 million. The refinery currently has 13 million barrels of storage capacity available, with the full potential being 30 million barrels — expected to come online in the future.

The territory’s leader told The Consortium that ArcLight has agreed to employ 70 workers at the 13 million barrels capacity, with that number rising as new storage comes available. This means at max storage availability, ArcLight would hire 350 workers; however it was not immediately clear how quickly the remaining storage space would come online. ArcLight said it would hire more people while improving the facility’s infrastructure.

The facility will house finished crude products, including gasoline, jet fuel, propane and liquid propane gas, Mapp said. ArcLight is also ready to purchase some of the oil currently stored in HOVENSA and make it available to companies within the territory.

“The remaining assets of the refinery will remain available for sale and ArcLight does not foreclose any opportunity to purchase it, and Hess has no objection to selling it,” Mapp said, referring to the refining capabilities of HOVENSA. It was not clear why ArcLight decided not to purchase the entire facility.

Mapp also told this publication that his administration favors the deal, adding that the owners of HOVENSA would like to complete the agreement, including Senate ratification, by November 30, 2015.

Feature Image: ArcLight’s image found on its website.