Oil company purchases Riverhead offshore petroleum facility
An affiliate of a Pennslyvannia-based refining company has agreed to purchase a 280-acre Riverhead marine petroleum terminal from a Texas energy company, according to a press statement.
United Riverhead Terminal, Inc., an affiliate of United Refining Company, will buy the terminal from Houston-based company Phillips 66. The deal is expected to be complete by the end of October, pending regulatory approval.
The terms of the purchase have not been released.
“We are pleased to add the Riverhead Terminal to our operations,” said United Refining Company CEO John Catsimatidis. “We will be able to provide storage and terminaling services to a wide variety of customers throughout the world.”
The terminal can store more than 5 million barrels of petroleum on site, according to the statement. The offshore platform is the only deepwater loading and unloading platform on the East Coast, and stores crude oil, heavy fuels, diesel and gasoline.
The current terminal supervisor and his crew will continue to manage the facility after the purchase, Mr. Catsimatidis said.
Tim Taylor, executive vice president of commercial, marketing, transportation and business development for Phillips 66 said the sale is “part of Phillips 66’s ongoing strategy to divest assets that do not fit with our long-term business objectives.”
Mr. Catsimatidis, a billionaire who is reportedly considering a run for mayor of New York City, according to a Wall Street Journal story, purchased United Refining in 1987.
The company now employs more than 4,000 people at its facilities and produces 70,000 barrels of oil per day, according to the company’s website.
