St. Croix oil refiner Hovensa has filed for bankruptcy after years of environmental lawsuits and financial struggles, Bloomberg reports. Hovensa co-owners Hess Corp. and PDVSA idled the 350,000-barrel-per-day refinery in 2012 after it lost $1.3 billion in the previous three years. The two firms found a buyer for the refinery last October, but Virgin Islands lawmakers nixed the deal two months later.
The refinery had been used as an oil storage terminal from 2012 until this year. Hovensa will sell its assets in an auction overseen by the federal government.
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