Delaware City refinery owner PBF Energy will idle some units at its Paulsboro, NJ refinery. As part of the reconfiguration, the Paulsboro refinery will idle the smaller of two crude units, coker, fluid catalytic cracker, and several smaller units.
“We expect to operate certain Delaware City and remaining Paulsboro units at higher utilization and efficiency, PBF reported.
The reconfigured East Coast refining system will have increased flexibility to respond to changing market conditions.
The changes will result in workforce reductions, although no details were released.
Refineries are dealing with sluggish demand, even with the closing last year of the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery, the largest on the East Coast.
The reconfiguration is expected to be complete by year-end 2020.
PBF reported a third-quarter loss from operations of $342.7 million compared to income from operations of $151.9 million for the third quarter of 2019.
Tom Nimbley, PBF Energy’s CEO, said, “Today we announced the reconfiguration of our Delaware City and Paulsboro refineries. With this reconfiguration, we will operate the most profitable components of our East Coast refining system at a lower cost. This is another step in our broader strategic process aimed at increasing the competitive position of our entire refining portfolio.”
Mr. Nimbley continued, “PBF’s third-quarter financial results reflect the challenging market conditions brought on by the global pandemic and government measures taken to mitigate its spread. We exited the third quarter with approximately $1.3 billion in cash and other sources of liquidity that we believe will support our business through the current crisis. We expect demand to remain depressed until there is a widely available medical solution for the Covid-19 virus that will allow everyone to return to their normal routines.”
