Irving Oil to Buy Irish Refinery from Phillips 66

Irving Oil said on Wednesday it agreed to buy Ireland's only refinery from Phillips 66, a deal that will extend the Canadian company's reach across the Atlantic.

 

The value of the deal, expected to close by the end of the third quarter, was not disclosed in a news release from Irving, which operates Canada's largest refinery in the province of New Brunswick.

 

The deal will give the closely held Canadian company, controlled by the billionaire Irving family, full ownership of the Whitegate refinery near Cork, Ireland. Irving said it will maintain Whitegate's existing workforce, which includes 160 employees as well as many contract workers.

 

Phillips 66 had made repeated attempts to sell the refinery since it first put it up for sale in 2013, but poor refining margins had dampened interest.

 

Phillips shares rose 2.2 percent on Wednesday morning to $77.85 on the New York Stock Exchange.

 

Irving said Whitegate can process up to 75,000 barrels of crude oil per day and produces transportation and heating fuels such as gasoline, diesel and kerosene.


(Reporting By Allison Lampert Editing by W Simon)