St. Croix Energy Wins Bid for Limetree Bay Refinery; Company Plans Restart With Safety in Mind

ST. CROIX — St. Croix Energy on Thursday afternoon won the bankruptcy court auction for Limetree Bay Refinery, a major development in the history of the south shore facility and an outcome that is likely to see the refinery restart if the company can get past environmental and regulatory hurdles it must overcome.

In a statement provided to the media following the successful outcome, Limetree Bay Refinery Director of Communications and Public Relations, Ashley Scotland, said, "Emerging as the top bidder for the LBR asset is a good thing, however SCE continues to remain focused and steadfast on accomplishing the other milestones necessary for our company and the US Virgin Islands community to see a safe and environmentally conscious restart of the LBR facility."

A number of scrapers — groups that intended to purchase the facility to dismantle and sell all of its useful parts — were part of the Thursday auction. Goldman Sachs was also part of the bidding, but in the end, St. Croix Energy, which had raised its bid to $29 million — a $9 million increase from its stalking horse offering of $20 million — was elected the winning bidder. The additional $9 million is funding from St. Croix Energy to cover professional fees of the debtor through a transitional service agreement which will have the debtors (current Limetree Bay) operate the refinery on behalf of SCE, the company said.

While it was making moves behind the scenes, St. Croix Energy's presence as part of the auction was exclusively announced by the Consortium on Sept. 15, the same day the company entered what is called a Notice of Appearance in the bankruptcy proceedings.

The process was overseen by Judge David Jones, the chief bankruptcy judge for the Southern District in Houston, Texas.