Valero energy to purchase murphy’s meraux refinery

San antonio--(business wire)--valero energy corporation (nyse: vlo) announced today that it has agreed to acquire murphy oil usa inc.’s meraux, la. refinery and related logistics assets for $325 million plus inventories currently estimated at approximately $300 million. the transaction is expected to be accretive to earnings upon closing. valero plans to fund the transaction from available cash, and the transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2011, subject to regulatory approvals. the meraux refinery has a total throughput capacity of 135,000 barrels per day with a 34,000 bpd hydrocracker and significant hydroprocessing capacity, which gives the refinery the ability to process medium sour crude and produce significant yields of premium products. the plant has a dock on the mississippi river and pipeline capability to collins, miss. on the river, the distance is only about 40 miles from the valero st. charles refinery. “our plan is to integrate feedstocks and refined product blending with the st. charles refinery, especially as our new 60,000 bpd hydrocracker is completed at st. charles,” said valero chairman and ceo bill klesse. “the meraux refinery adds more hydroprocessing capacity to our portfolio. it’s the right hardware in the right place.” in addition to the refinery, the purchase price includes an adjacent product terminal, a 20 percent equity interest in the collins product pipeline and t&m terminal, and a 3.2 percent interest in the louisiana offshore oil port (loop). about valero: valero energy corporation, through its subsidiaries, is an international manufacturer and marketer of transportation fuels, other petrochemical products and power. valero assets include 15 petroleum refineries with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 2.9 million barrels per day, 10 ethanol plants with a combined production capacity of 1.2 billion gallons per year, and a 50-megawatt wind farm. valero is also one of the largest retail operators with approximately 6,800 retail and branded wholesale outlets under the valero, diamond shamrock, shamrock and beacon brands in the united states and the caribbean; ultramar in canada; and texaco in the united kingdom and ireland. based in san antonio, valero is a fortune 500 company with approximately 20,000 employees. please visit www.valero.com for more information. safe harbor statement: statements contained in this release that state the company's or management's expectations or predictions of the future are forward-looking statements intended to be covered by the safe harbor provisions of the securities act of 1933 and the securities exchange act of 1934. the words "believe," "expect," "should," "estimates," and other similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. it is important to note that actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. for more information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed or forecasted, see valero's annual reports on form 10-k and quarterly reports on form 10-q, filed with the securities and exchange commission, and available on valero's website at www.valero.com.
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