(VI Consortium) St. Croix — Limetree Bay Ventures announced Monday that Limetree Bay Refining has successfully resumed operations and begun production and commercial sales of refined products.
The move caps over a year’s delay of projected refining restart, as the company’s original goal was January 2020. The announcement also serves as a relief to employees of and investors in the firm, following a Reuters report in October that British Petroleum, one of the refinery’s largest partners, threatened abandoning the partnership if refining did not commence in short order.
Limetree said today that the refinery is capable of processing over 200,000 barrels of crude oil and other feedstocks per day, and will help transition the maritime fuel sector toward new international standards. The company also stated that the refinery is well situated to process the growing supply of Latin American sour crudes to fulfill consumer demand in growing end markets in the Caribbean, Central and South America, and the U.S. East Coast. With the completion of the refinery restart and, together with the company’s integrated terminal and marine infrastructure, Limetree Bay said it has reemerged as a world-class energy hub and logistics center serving the region and international markets from its advantaged central location on St. Croix.
