OLD GREENWICH, Conn., April 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Premcor Inc.
(NYSE: PCO) today announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding
to sell certain of the processing units and ancillary assets at its 70,000
barrel-per-day Hartford, Illinois refinery to ConocoPhillips for $40 million.
The sale is subject to the execution of a definitive purchase and sale
agreement and other conditions. Premcor will record a pretax charge of
$16.6 million related to the transaction in the first quarter ended March 31,
2003.
Thomas D. O'Malley, Premcor's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said,
"After making the difficult, but necessary, decision to cease refining
operations at our Hartford refinery, we are pleased to enter into a
transaction that will preserve jobs and refining capacity in the Midwest. We
are comfortable placing Hartford in the hands of ConocoPhillips, a major
integrated oil company with a long history of operating refineries
responsibly."
O'Malley continued, "The $16.6 million restructuring charge includes
$9.0 million to reduce the refining assets from their carrying value of
$49 million to the $40 million sales price, $4.6 million for the value of
certain terminal assets included in the sale, and $3.0 million for other
ancillary costs. We plan to continue to operate the Hartford terminal facility
to accommodate our wholesale petroleum product distribution business, and we
are carrying the remaining Hartford terminal assets on our books at what we
believe to be their economic value."
Premcor Inc. is one of the largest independent petroleum refiners and
marketers of unbranded transportation fuels and heating oil in the United
States.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning
of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including the
company's current expectations with respect to future market conditions,
future operating results, the future performance of its refinery operations,
and other plans. Words such as "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects,"
"believes," "estimates," "may," "will," "should," "shall," and similar
expressions typically identify such forward-looking statements. Even though
Premcor believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements
are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its
expectations will be attained. Factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from expectations include, but are not limited to,
operational difficulties, varying market conditions, potential changes in
gasoline, crude oil, distillate, and other commodity prices, government
regulations, and other factors contained from time to time in the reports
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by the company and its
subsidiary, The Premcor Refining Group Inc., including quarterly reports on
Form 10-Q, reports on Form 8-K, and annual reports on Form 10-K.
SOURCE Premcor Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.premcor.com
CONTACT:
Media-Investors, Joe Watson, +1-203-698-7510,
Investors, Karen Davis, +1-314-854-1424, or Investors, Michael
Taylor, +1-314-719-2304, all of Premcor
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