Deer Park handover set for 20 January

Deer Park handover set for 20 January

Houston, 14 January (Argus) — Shell will hand over full control of the 340,000 b/d Deer Park refinery in Texas to longtime joint venture partner Pemex next week, marking a step forward for Mexico's energy ambitions and another pivot in the Dutch major's move away from North American oil-and-gas operations.

Pemex will assume full control of the refinery on 20 January, a union source told Argus today. Existing managers expect to remain in place at the facility after a move to Pemex payroll, according to comments from the facility's general manager late last year.

Shell announced the Deer Park sale in May 2021, with the Mexican state-owned Pemex set to buy Shell's 50.005pc stake for $596mn after holding a minority stake in the facility for the better part of 30 years. Besides the purchase price, Pemex expects to assume around $907mn in debt, interest and prepayment fees owed by Deer Park after the deal is concluded. The financial resources for the transaction will come from Mexico's national infrastructure fund.