by Evelyn Pyburn
ExxonMobil has sold its 63,000 bpd Billings Refinery to Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. in a $310 million sale that included associated marketing and logistics assets from ExxonMobil Corporation and two of its subsidiaries.
The sale includes Exxon- and Mobil-branded service stations network, supplied through long-term brand agreements. ExxonMobil has operated the refinery since 1949 and currently employs 300 people.
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2023.
Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. headquartered in Houston, Texas, owns and operates energy, infrastructure, and retail businesses.
A Par Pacific spokesman said that they are looking at renewable fuel opportunities to supplement the refinery’s conventional fuel production and utilize its existing market position in Washington to reduce the carbon intensity of its fuel sales in accordance with the recently enacted Washington low-carbon fuel standard.
ExxonMobil’s president of Product Solutions, Karen McKee, explained that Exxon is focused on investing in facilities “where we can manufacture higher-value products such as lubricants and chemicals.”