Washington refinery finds new owner

June 9, 2014
Global commodities logistics and trading firm TrailStone Group has acquired US Oil & Refining Co. (USOR), including the 42,000-b/d Tacoma, Wash., refinery, from Astra Transcor Energy NV, a subsidiary of Compagnie Nationale a Portefeuille SA, Belgium.

Global commodities logistics and trading firm TrailStone Group has acquired US Oil & Refining Co. (USOR), including the 42,000-b/d Tacoma, Wash., refinery, from Astra Transcor Energy NV, a subsidiary of Compagnie Nationale a Portefeuille SA, Belgium.

The acquisition marks TrailStone’s entry into North America’s physical crude oil and refined products markets, the company said.

In addition to the Tacoma refinery, the purchase includes 2.7 million bbl of storage capacity, a fleet of 630 rail cars, and a multiyear storage and 30,000-b/d throughput agreement at a rail terminal in the Bakken shale, according to TrailStone.

TrailStone will also assume ownership of USOR’s Tacoma deepwater terminal, which houses two docks equipped to handle up to 125,000-dwt vessels, as well as loading racks for wholesale clean product and asphalt, the company said.

Other assets included in the sale are three double-hulled barges on long-term charter and a dedicated proprietary jet fuel pipeline to US military installation Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

The USOR executive team—including Robert B. Redd, USOR’s chief executive officer—will remain on board as part of the acquisition to help implement business plans for future growth and profitability, according to TrailStone.

“USOR is extremely well-positioned to capitalize on the rapidly changing dynamics of the North American oil market, and we look forward to working with Bob Redd and his team to build a leading liquids supply and trading franchise at TrailStone,” said John Redpath, TrailStone’s head of oil and agriculture.

Terms for the acquisition of USOR assets were not disclosed.

TrailStone is backed by New York-based Riverstone Holdings LLC, an energy and power-focused private investment firm.