In late November, Vitol completed the purchase of a controlling interest in former SemGroup Energy Partners LP, which was renamed Blueknight Energy
Partners from Dec. 1. Vitol purchased 100% of the membership interests of Blueknight, Blueknight’s general partner and its subordinated units. In the MLP, Vitol owns the general partnership, but there could still be limited partners in the company.
“Vitol has indicated that they could take up more crude storage at Cushing,” but there is no word on any changes on the company’s third-party independent
status, Bailey Jones, a Blueknight spokesman, said.
Vitol currently uses about 30% of the total crude storage at Cushing. Blueknight owns and operates a portfolio of complementary midstream energy assets consisting of about 8.2 million bbl of crude oil storage located in Oklahoma and Texas, about 6.7 million barrels of which are located at the
Cushing, Okla., interchange. The opportunity to expand Vitol’s crude storage space at Cushing would come when the storage contracts with existing tenants expire. Existing tenants have the options to renew their contracts, possibly at a higher rate due to inflation. This would depend on the individual ontractual terms. Vitol also has the option to buy out those contracted space at expiration.
With a controlling stake at Blueknight and majority vote on the board of directors, Vitol has the right and option to use Blueknight solely for its own trading purposes in the future. However, there is no indication of such a drastic move so far or in the near future, Jones said.
OPIS noted that Vitol has typically bought oil terminals to add to its network system of storage tanks.
Blueknight also appointed James Dyer, a Vitol executive, as its new chief executive officer in December. Vitol also reshuffled the board of directors and the management team at
Blueknight. Vitol would have control on the Board as well as the management. In connection with the Vitol change of control, Miguel Loya, Javed Ahmed, Christopher G. Brown, James C. Dyer, IV, Steven M. Bradshaw and John A. Shapiro were appointed to the Board. Ahmed, Loya, Dyer and Brown are affiliated with Vitol, and Bradshaw and Shapiro will serve as independent members of the Board and will be members of
the Conflicts Committee, Audit Committee and Compensation Committee of the Board.
Vitol Inc. is the principal U.S. subsidiary of the Vitol Group. Vitol is engaged in the global physical supply and distribution of crude oil, petroleum products, coal, natural gas and other commodities. Vitol was founded in 1966, and is headquartered in the Netherlands. Vitol moves over 5 million bbl of crude oil and petroleum products every day throughout the world, charters more than 3,000 ships annually and had annual revenues of $191 billion in 2008.
Apart from the large crude storage capacity in Texas and Oklahoma, Blueknight also owns about 1,150 miles of crude oil pipeline located primarily in Oklahoma and Texas, over 200 crude oil transportation and oilfield services vehicles deployed in Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas and about 7.4 million barrels of combined asphalt and residual fuel storage located at 46 terminals in 23 states. Blueknight provides crude oil terminalling and storage services, crude oil
gathering and transportation services and asphalt services.