Sunoco, Inc. said last week that it is in a deal with El Paso Corporation to acquire the Eagle Point refinery in Westville, New Jersey for $130 million. Included in the signed letter of intent, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based Sunoco will also receive related assets in the sale, as well as pay fair market value for remaining crude oil and refining product inventories at the time of closing.

"Like our Northeast refineries, the Eagle Point refinery processes light, sweet crude oils into high-value products for sale into the large northeast U.S. product market,” said Sunoco Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John G. Drosdick.

The Eagle Point refinery has a rated capacity of 150,000 barrels per day.

“The acquisition of the Eagle Point refinery, located just across the Delaware River from our Philadelphia Refining Complex, offers significant opportunities for real synergy capture,” continued Drosdick. “As part of our refining center, we can further optimize crude oil purchases, reduce transportation costs, share product streams, more efficiently utilize processing units and logistical infrastructure and further improve our ability to meet our customers needs,” added the CEO.

The purchase includes certain pipeline and other logistics assets associated with the refinery which Sunoco intends to make available for sale to Sunoco Logistics Partners, L.P., its 75 percent owned master-limited partnership.

The transaction, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, including regulatory approval and negotiation of final definitive agreements, is expected to close in the second or third quarter of the year.

Sunoco owns 730,000 bpd of refining capacity, approximately 4,300 retail sites selling gasoline and convenience items, interests in almost 11,000 miles of crude oil and refined product pipelines and 34 product terminals in the United States.