FINDLAY, Ohio -- Marathon Petroleum may be changing its tune on whether it could acquire CITGO’s U.S. refineries.
“Those assets are interesting, where they’re located,” Marathon CEO Gary Heminger said this past week during a speech at the Barclays CEO Energy-Power Conference in New York, according to a report in The Blade.
The comment seemingly contradicts a previous statement, when Heminger told Argus in early August, "I would say, right now, we're pretty satisfied with our footprint."
This month, however, Heminger said he expects the refining industry to consolidate and Findlay, Ohio-based Marathon is positioned for acquisitions.
The statement comes about a month after Venezuelan Petroleum Minister Rafael Ramirez said state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), which owns CITGO, would sell off some or all of its U.S. refinery holdings.
The CITGO refineries, in Louisiana, Texas and Illinois, have so far drawn interest from HollyFrontier Corp. and PBF Energy Inc., which said last month they would take a look, according to The Blade. The assets are worth more than $10 billion, PDVSA has said. Houston-based CITGO has not addressed what a sale might mean for its retail-marketing arm.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.