Governor de Jongh has granted the owners of HOVENSA what is being called a brief extension to complete the sale of the shuttered refinery, Government House revealed on Monday.
“DeJongh has agreed to a brief extension of the agreement currently in place and will make a further announcement with respect to the sales process at the end of the week,” the statement reads.
Attorney George Dudley, local counsel for HOVENSA, Hess Oil, PSVSA and Virgin Islands corp., said on Friday that because the sales process was still ongoing, his clients had requested more time from Governor John P. deJongh.
The Fourth Amendment Agreement between the Government of the Virgin Islands and HOVENSA expired on August 15th, however it was extended by 15 days to allow for more talks. The last day of the extension was Friday — the day when HOVENSA owners requested even more time.
There is one marked difference in the latest episode however: the Governor has been invited to a meeting about the sale of the now-shuttered refinery, which he agreed to attend.
So could a deal be near? We’ll have to wait and see, as the Governor has promised to make another announcement later in the week.
Virgin Islanders were greeted with difficult news in January 2012 when the owners of HOVENSA announced that the refinery would shut down, a reality that saw over 2,000 employees being made redundant. The decision led to talks between refinery owners and the Government of the Virgin Islands, and after a lengthy deliberation process which lasted over a year, the Fourth Amendment Agreement became a reality.
The agreement had HOVENSA agreeing to a sales process for the refinery with aid from an established investment banking firm, Lazard. As part of the deal, the Government of the Virgin Islands would allow HOVENSA to operate in the interim as an oil storage terminal.
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