MOSCOW (MRC) -- The bankrupt Philadelphia Energy Solutions is expected to sell its fire-damaged refinery site to real estate developer Hilco Redevelopment Partners, reported Reuters with reference to three sources familiar with the situation.
The agreement between PES and Hilco, a Chicago-based developer, was expected to be announced later on Tuesday. PES and Hilco did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A city official declined to comment.
The sale reduces the possibility that the more-than 1,300-acre (526-hectare) Philadelphia site would be resurrected as an oil refinery, but it is possible that Hilco could lease it to a refinery, biofuels or other heavy industrial operation, the sources said.
The 335,000 barrel-per-day refinery is the largest and oldest on the US East Coast, but was shut after a fire and series of explosions on June 21 last year that destroyed a key processing unit.
There were more than a dozen initial bidders for the site, but only one bidder had publicly stated intentions to revive the site as a refinery. Any sale would have to be approved by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
A bankruptcy court hearing is set for Feb. 6, which could confirm any potential sale of the site.
PES had struggled financially for years and had only exited a previous bankruptcy in 2018. More than 1,000 workers were laid off after the site closed last summer.
As MRC wrote previously, in November 2019, US and local officials were opposing the sale procedure for the bankrupt Philadelphia Energy Solutions oil refinery, arguing the plan discourages bidders and keeps the city locked out of the process.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,904,410 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments increased from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,161,830 tonnes in January-November 2019, up by 7% year on year. Deliveries of all grades of propylene polymers increased, with the homopolymer PP segment accounting for the largest increase.
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