PBF Energy of Parsippany and Rome-based Eni Sustainable Mobility S.p.A. recently announced they completed a 50-50 joint venture partnership in St. Bernard Renewables LLC, an operating biorefinery co-located with PBF’s Chalmette Refinery near New Orleans.
PBF’s affiliate contributed the biorefinery and other assets comprising the business to SBR and Eni Sustainable Mobility’s affiliate, which has committed to make capital reimbursements and contributions totaling $835 million to PBF, of which $431 million was paid at closing.
Eni Sustainable Mobility will contribute the remainder of the total consideration upon the startup of the pre-treatment unit. An additional $50 million in contingent consideration will be paid by Eni Sustainable Mobility subject to the achievement of certain project milestones and performance criteria.
“Closing the St. Bernard Renewables biorefinery 50% acquisition and creating a dedicated joint venture together with an important U.S. industrial partner as PBF confirms the relevance of biofuels in Eni Sustainable Mobility, which is already running two biorefineries in Italy, and it is a further step on the path to decarbonize transports, including ‘hard to abate’ sectors such as heavy duty,” Eni Sustainable Mobility CEO Stefano Ballista said.
Ballista continued to say the closing will enable Eni Sustainable Mobility to immediately increase its refining capacity and to enter in the most relevant markets in line with its goal to reach over 3 million tons/year by 2025 and more than 5 million tons/year by 2030.
“Closing this strategic partnership with Eni Sustainable Mobility, a global leader in biorefining, demonstrates our commitment to delivering diversified sources of energy to our customers, while lowering the carbon intensity of the products we manufacture,” PBF President Matthew Lucey said. “The SBR biorefinery will benefit from PBF and Eni’s complementary strengths and expertise. We are excited about our partnership with Eni and look forward to reaching full operations at SBR.”
SBR will operate as an independent entity with feed procurement and product distribution managed by a dedicated team working on behalf of the St. Bernard Renewables joint venture. While the partnership is set to benefit from its co-location with PBF’s Chalmette refinery through a variety of shared services, the operations and ownership of the existing Chalmette refinery will not be affected by the formation of the new partnership.
