DNRTFA

I believe Sunoco is more of a "downstream" oil company. They buy crude oil from others and then transport, refine and sell it in retail locations. That part of the oil business has always been very cost competitive. The only refineries that I am aware of them owning are some relatively outdated facilities in the Delaware Valley (Philadelphia)-tough to make money with those.

This is what happens when you put a woman in charge.

Shutting down two more refineries?

/that should help gas prices

MY RACE GAS!!!!

NOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo!


/eh, I'll switch to VP

Who forgot the bribes this month?

Dwight_Yeast: mr_a: The only refineries that I am aware of them owning are some relatively outdated facilities in the Delaware Valley (Philadelphia)-tough to make money with those.

A) Bullshiat.

B) Whose fault is it exactly that the refineries became outdated? Did God do it?

over regulation by liberal socialist dictators during the years 1992-2000 and 2008-current

Excluding special items, the company said it would have a pretax loss of $48 million.

In other words, they largely did this to themselves.

In other news, bonus payments to Sunoco execs and shareholders topped $660 million last year...

constructor5179: GAT_00: Excluding special items, the company said it would have a pretax loss of $48 million.

In other words, they largely did this to themselves.

Yes they did it to themselves, intentionally. They don't want to be in the refining business, it's the reason she was hired as CEO. They put all their refineries up for sale last year, and plan to have them all shut down by mid-2012. They want to focus on their pipeline business. It's the same reason they sold off SunCoke. It's not stated in the article, but I think the reason for the loss is that they have not been able to sell off some of the refineries. Which is understandable because it's not cost effective to have an east coast refinery.

Ding ding ding. We have a winner! My friend works for SunCoke and did at the time of the spin-off. This was indeed the motivation.

wutchamacallem: constructor5179: it's not cost effective to have an east coast refinery

Why?

Cost of labor, cost of living, the fact that these are some of the oldest and outdated refineries in the country. Add to that the fact that the cost of updating these refineries is almost as much as building a new one (due to the strict environmental laws - I'm not making a judgement, I just know from working in a Refinery in the South that we had to bend over and contort ourselves in various ways just to be able to get some projects in so that they wouldn't impact flares and without re-permitting)

Hell Exxon saw the writing on the wall when it merged with Mobil. The fact that the US forced them to sell assets in order for them to approve the merger gave Exxon the perfect out for getting out of the Northeast.

A group came in and bought those assets, this was the beginning of Valero. Valero used this as a foothold and then expanded into the south. As far as I know, they (Valero) have also sold off their northeast refineries and are now solely in the south.

Some mom-pop shop, or LukOil (the Russian version of Exxon) will buy these assets eventually. Hell they're dismantling Eagle Point and sending the units to India (I believe). The company that bought Eagle Point did so because it was cheaper to buy it, dismantle and ship overseas then to build a brand new facility with all new equipment.

constructor5179: wutchamacallem: constructor5179: it's not cost effective to have an east coast refinery

Why?

Available crude types, local market for refining byproducts, and cost/availability of all the needed gasses and chemicals for refining. It's better to be on the gulf coast where there are lots of other refineries to share the pipeline and support facilities infrastructure & costs.

This and I forgot these refineries are set up to handle "Sweet" crudes which are less available then they once were. And as Constructor stated, the bulk of the oil comes into pipelines near the south.

Additionally the South offers GIGANTIC ports whereas the Northeast channels (most along the Delaware River) are not deep enough to be able to handle the super tankers.

constructor5179: Dougie AXP: Hell they're dismantling Eagle Point and sending the units to India (I believe). The company that bought Eagle Point did so because it was cheaper to buy it, dismantle and ship overseas then to build a brand new facility with all new equipment.

Hadn't hear that one, makes sense though, get stuff cheaper and don't have wait in line to get stuff from manufacturers. Do know much about what all they are taking to India? I imagine the pressure vessels, and possibly exchangers. I imagine it would be tough to get the pumps to work correctly in a new refinery configuration.

From my friend who worked at EP and then got transferred to SunCoke before the spin-off, they are taking the pressure vessels (reactors, separators, maybe fractionators/strippers [he wasn't sure], and exchangers), piping and pumps will probably be sold for scrap or they will leave it and then sell it to someone who will reclaim the site for the metal and the tax write-off.

When we were at the Eagles/Skins game on new years day, he stood in the lot pointing out what was going down. Cranes could be seen lifting on of their large reactors out of place (or just rigging up to it)

Dougie AXP: My friend works for SunCoke and did at the time of the spin-off.

Interesting. So did my father. He didn't make the move to Chicago with them.

GAT_00: Dougie AXP: My friend works for SunCoke and did at the time of the spin-off.

Interesting. So did my father. He didn't make the move to Chicago with them.

He did. He's loving it.

If your father isn't with them anymore, my sincerest hope that he found a new job.

Dougie AXP: GAT_00: Dougie AXP: My friend works for SunCoke and did at the time of the spin-off.

Interesting. So did my father. He didn't make the move to Chicago with them.

He did. He's loving it.

If your father isn't with them anymore, my sincerest hope that he found a new job.

He has, but I'll refrain from details.

From my father's day - he told me not to buy Sunoco gas in the wintertime because it was more of a White Gas that did not do well in the winter time. I never had an issue - as well sunoco was the first credit card I ever had as a teenager - helped me make by credit rating years ago.