Los Angeles Times: Shell Oil's Bakersfield Refinery, Once Set to Close, Changes Hands: “Shell Oil Co. has quietly handed its Bakersfield refinery, once slated for closure, to new owner Flying J Inc., a Utah truck stop operator.” (ShellNews.net) 17 March 05

By Elizabeth Douglass, Times Staff Writer

Shell Oil Co. has quietly handed its Bakersfield refinery, once slated for closure, to new owner Flying J Inc., a Utah truck stop operator.

Flying J paid a reported $130 million for the refinery and plans to spend at least that much on an expansion that would sharply increase the plant's gasoline and diesel output. In its current configuration, the facility makes 2% of California's gasoline and 6% of its diesel.

Shell Oil had planned to close the facility in October, but public officials pushed for a sale instead so fuel-hungry California would not lose a source of gasoline and diesel. In January, Shell said it would sell the plant to Flying J.

The deal's final hurdle was cleared last week, when the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District granted Flying J a one-year extension to comply with an emissions rule affecting a few of the refinery's heaters. Shell Oil and Flying J signed the final paperwork for the sale Tuesday and the facility was transferred without fanfare.

"We're officially the owners now," said Jeff Utley, senior vice president of refinery operations for Flying J's refining unit, Big West Oil. "We're pretty excited about moving forward."

Flying J named Gene Cotten the Bakersfield refinery's top manager. Cotten most recently managed two Texas refineries owned by Valero Energy Corp. until he left that post in 2003.

The Bakersfield refinery is idled for maintenance; Flying J hopes to have the refinery back to normal production by the end of next week, Utley said.

Privately owned Flying J, based in Ogden, Utah, owns a small refinery in that state and is the nation's largest supplier of diesel fuel.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-refinery17mar17,1,7895435.story?coll=la-headlines-business 

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