The push to sell the refinery is part of the proposed resolution to a tax dispute between Hovensa and the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Last week, de Jongh had resubmitted to the 30th Legislature the Fourth Amendment Agreement to the Hovensa Concession Agreement, together with certain clarifications requested by the Senate. The bill of ratification would require Hovensa to launch a sale process for the 500,000-b/d St. Croix refinery, which is currently used as an oil storage terminal.

In the past year, Hovensa was in discussions with the local government on retaining tax concessions for operating the oil terminal even though the original exemptions were for operating an oil refinery. Hovensa will not pay custom duties on the incoming cargoes of gasoline and distillates upon the resumption of imports into the U.S. Virgin Islands, a Hovensa spokesman told
OPIS last Friday.

Hovensa will consider purchase offers by potential buyers interested in utilizing the refinery for non-refining industrial or commercial purposes, subject to the approval of the government.

Hovensa will operate and continue to make fuels available to the government and the public at the fuel loading rack for as long as Hovensa is operating an oil storage terminal at the site, with fuel supplied by Hovensa or a third-party supplier approved by the government.

If the refinery is not sold within a year, Hovensa will agree to open up the Limetree Bay Channel to commercial vessels en route to the St. Croix Container port, subject to any necessary approvals by the U.S. Coast Guard or U.S. Department of Homeland Security and receipt of indemnification and proof of acceptable insurance coverage by transiting vessels.

Hovensa, which is a 50-50 joint-venture between PDVSA of Venezuela and Hess, was shut in early 2012 due to an extended run of poor refining economics over a three-year period.

Meanwhile, Hess has sold its oil terminal assets in the Northeast and St. Lucia to Buckeye for $850 million.