SAN RAMON, Calif. --Hawaii continues to be a hotbed of retail activity. Chevron Corp. said that it is looking for a buyer for its Hawaii refinery and retail network in West Oahu, the smaller of the two refineries in the state, as part of a bigger plan to sell off billions of dollars of its assets during the next few years, a company spokesman confirmed for Pacific Business News.
The refinery and 60 gas stations could fetch anywhere from $75 million to $300 million, an industry source speculated for the newspaper.
"We have not made any decisions to sell our operation in Hawaii," Al Chee, spokesperson for Chevron Hawaii, told the paper. "We have engaged in an investment banker to determine the level of interest there might be for someone to acquire us. We have asked them to make some inquiries in the industry."
Chevron has engaged Deutsche Bank to lead this process, he said.
"There is always an effort to evaluate things, review the portfolio, but not everything that is reviewed or studied ever moves or changes," Chee said. "It's just a constant process that all companies go through to make sure they remain competitive and are not accused of being asleep at the switch."
On Thursday, San Ramon, Calif.-based Chevron began its process of letting its 300 employees in Hawaii know about the possible sale.
"We're trying to figure out what's our future," said Chee, who declined to say if there was an asking price for Chevron's Hawaii operations. "There is no hard timetable."
Only six of the gas stations are company owned and operated, said the report; the others are leased, owned and operated by others.
Hawaii Independent Energy, a subsidiary of Houston-based Par Petroleum, which bought Tesoro Hawaii's operation last year, including the largest oil refinery in the state, declined to say if it is interested in buying Chevron Hawaii, the report said.
In June, Hawaii Independent acquired Mid-Pac Petroleum, the exclusive licensee of the "76" brand in Hawaii, which operates or distributes through more than 80 retail sites in the state, for $107 million. And earlier in September, Aloha Petroleum Ltd., Hawaii's largest independent gas station owners and one of the biggest convenience store operators in the islands, announced that it has engaged Macquarie Capital to help it review its strategic alternatives, which could include selling the company.
Click here to view the full Pacific Business News report.
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