JAMAICAN FIRM WITH MUCH PETROCHEMICAL EXPERIENCE WINS LIMETREE BAY AUCTION

CHRISTIANSTED — An offer of $62 million won the shuttered Limetree Bay Refinery for Jamaica-based West Indies Petroleum (WIP) after a two days of escalating bidding that began Friday.

The auction took place in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas and was presided over by Judge David Jones.

West Indies Petroleum now has until January 21, 2022 to close the deal. If the company is unable to, St. Croix Energy will be the default winner of the auction.

The outcome of the two-company bidding war is a stark reversal of fortune for St. Croix Energy, which mistakenly thought that it had won the auction for the refinery on November 18.

However, Judge Jones approved a motion filed by Limetree Bay Refinery to reopen the auction to a new bidder.

At the time, Limetree Bay attorney Elizabeth Green explained to the judge that WIP, a firm which specializes in bunker services and oil storage, was originally part of the auction, but its chief executive had fallen ill and needed emergency attention in the days before the auction was set to take place and that prevented the company from proceeding at the time.

At the time of the motion to reopen, WIP was offering $30 million cash upfront, which was more than St. Croix Energy’s $20 million in cash upfront.

St. Croix Energy’s final bid was $57 million in cash on Saturday evening, but it was not enough. West Indies Petroleum countered at $62 million, which forced SCE to drop out of the competition.