LyondellBasell considers sale of Houston oil refinery, shares fall

CSR

08/09/2021 18:27

** Chemicals and refining co shares  LYB.N  down 1.2% at
$93.49
    ** Co considering strategic options, including a potential
sale of its Gulf Coast-based Houston refinery
    ** This is Lyondell's second attempt to sell Houston
refinery, which the U.S. Energy Information Administration says
can process 263,776 barrels/day of crude oil  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2QA2QF
    ** LYB's Houston refinery has very limited blending
capability, which means the buyer will incur significant RIN
liability under renewable fuel standard, Credit Suisse analyst
Manav Gupta says
    ** CS says the refinery would sell for at or below ~$2/daily
flowing barrel, implying a purchase price of up to $550 mln plus
inventory 
    ** Refinery values have declined in the past 5 years as
capacity, especially in the U.S., is seen too great for an
economy preparing to move away from fossil fuels for
transportation
    ** "While the Houston Refinery is a valuable,
well-performing asset, we have long held the belief that it may
be even more valuable as part of a larger refining system" - CEO
Bob Patel 
    ** "They hope to sell as soon as possible," one of the
people familiar with the matter said of LyondellBasell
    ** LYB is up ~2% so far this year

 (Reporting by Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru)
 ((Arunima.Kumar@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aru_Kumar94))