HOUSTON -- As part of a strategy to expand its refining and marketing operations in Hawaii, Par Petroleum Corp. is changing its name to Par Pacific Holdings Inc., effective Oct. 20, 2015.
Par Petroleum is the parent company of Hawaii Independent Energy (HIE), a refiner and marketer of petroleum products based in Honolulu. HIE is the largest supplier of transportation fuels in Hawaii. It assets include a refinery on Kapolei, five refined product terminals to facilitate product distribution throughout Hawaii, 27 miles of pipeline delivering product throughout the state and more. It supplies fuel to 128 gas stations.
To further its growth strategy, Par has appointed current board member William Pate as its president and CEO. Par's current CEO, Joseph Israel, will remain on the board of Par Pacific and will be named president and CEO of the refining, marketing and logistics business, which will be renamed Par Petroleum LLC.
“Bill is exceptionally capable with a proven record of building shareholder value. I have worked closely with him in successfully developing companies for over twenty years. He has been instrumental in establishing the successful entity that Par is today. His extensive experience in the energy space, combined with his expertise in identifying, funding, and developing acquisitions, will help us accelerate our acquisition strategy to take advantage of the current commodity price environment,” said Melvyn (Mel) N. Klein, chairman of the board. “We are delighted Joseph is taking the lead as President of Par Petroleum to specifically focus on enhancing the refining, marketing and logistics piece of our business.”
Prior to joining Par, Pate was the co-president of Equity Group Investments (EGI), the Chicago-based private investment firm founded and led by Sam Zell. Through an affiliate, EGI is the largest shareholder of Par.
In his 21 years at EGI, Pate led a team that completed successful investments in many business sectors including energy, power, infrastructure, logistics, chemicals, financial services and health care. Many of these investments included holding companies that had tax attributes and multiple lines of business, similar to Par. Pate is the former chairman of and a longtime director of Covanta Holding Corp., an international owner and operator of energy-from-waste and power generation facilities.
Houston-based Par Petroleum is a growth-oriented company that manages and maintains interests in energy-related assets. Par, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates a refinery with related logistics and retail network in Hawaii. Par also transports, markets and distributes crude oil from western United States and Canada to refining hubs in the Midwest, Gulf Coast, East Coast and to Hawaii. In addition, Par owns an equity investment in Piceance Energy LLC, which has natural gas production and reserves located in the Piceance Basin of Colorado.
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