Officials of both the buyer and seller are mum about the construction required to restore to full operation Exxon Mobil Corp.'s Torrance, Calif., oil refinery, which lost 80% of its capacity in a February 2015 explosion. On Sept. 30, PBF Energy Inc. announced it would purchase the 155,000-barrel-per-day refinery and its logistics-related assets from Exxon for $537.5 million-plus working capital, to be valued at closing. The refinery is to be restored to full working order before the deal's expected close in 2016's second quarter.
Four people were injured in the explosion, which destroyed the electrostatic precipitator (ESP). The refinery was supplying 20% of California's gasoline, and prices soared when its production was reduced. To restore production, Exxon offered to restart an old ESP, but the South Coast Air Quality Management District rejected that. "We required a greater degree of control for the fine particulates," says a spokesman.