Eni Sustainable Mobility, part of Italy-headed oil, gas, and energy major Eni S.p.A., and US-based PBF Energy Inc. have announced that they have entered into definitive agreements to partner in a 50-50 joint venture, St. Bernard Renewables LLC (SBR), for the biorefinery currently under construction co-located with PBF's Chalmette Refinery in Louisiana (LA). The announcement marks Eni's entrance into the US biofuels market.
PBF Energy is one of the largest independent petroleum refiners and suppliers in the United States (US) of unbranded transportation fuels, heating oils, lubricants, petrochemical feedstocks, and other petroleum products.
The company currently has refining operations in California (CA), Delaware (DE), Louisiana (LA), New Jersey (NJ), and Ohio (OH).
Upon consummation of the transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, Eni Sustainable Mobility will contribute capital totaling US$835 million plus up to an additional US$50 million that is subject to the achievement of eventual project milestones and will provide expertise in biorefining operations, supply, and marketing.
Strong and strategic partnership
PBF brings its strong US industrial know-how and, as the biorefinery contributor, will continue to manage project execution and serve as the operator once construction is complete.
PBF also brings experience in large capital project execution and fuels manufacturing as well as access to the California (CA) renewables market through its existing logistics assets.
This strategic partnership will leverage the experience and expertise of Eni Sustainable Mobility and PBF.
Together with Ecofining technology, Eni brings its experience in biorefining that led to the world’s first conversion of a refinery into a biorefinery in Porto Marghera, Venice in 2014, and to the second converted biorefinery that has been working in Gela, Sicily since 2019.
The company also provides its worldwide knowledge in supplying sustainable feedstock sourcing for HVO, mainly based on oily waste and residues, and raw materials that do not compete with the food chain, coupled with access to international markets beyond PBF’s footprint in the United States.
The joint venture reflects both partners’ commitment to delivering more sustainable transportation fuels using low-carbon intensity feedstocks.
Joining St. Bernard Renewables biorefinery project enables Eni to enter into the growing US biofuels market together with a strong partner such as PBF. This is a further step for Eni Sustainable Mobility to expand its biorefining capacity, which today is over 1 million tonnes per year and it is planned to grow in the upcoming years, said Stefano Ballista, CEO of Eni Sustainable Mobility.
Following results achieved in Venice and Gela, Eni Sustainable Mobility is a pioneer in the biorefining industry, and it is also studying the possible construction of two new biorefineries in Italy and in Malaysia. We do believe the role of HVO will strongly contribute to the decarbonization of road transports, including hard to abate heavy-duty sector, as it leverages existing infrastructure and can immediately fuel existing vehicle fleets. Biofuels are part of Eni’s strategy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 through the reduction of the emissions generated during the entire product life cycle, Stefano Ballista said.
Startup during 2023
The St. Bernard Renewables biorefinery startup is scheduled in the first half of 2023 and the facility is currently targeted to have a processing capacity of about 1.1 million tonnes per annum of raw materials, with full pretreatment capabilities.
It will produce mainly renewable diesel (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil – HVO), with a production capacity of 306 million (US) gallons (≈ 1.16 billion litres) per year. The biorefinery will use the “Ecofining” process developed by Eni in cooperation with Honeywell UOP.
We’re excited to enter this strategic partnership with Eni Sustainable Mobility, a global leader in biorefining. The SBR biorefinery will benefit greatly from PBF and Eni’s complementary strengths and expertise. The project will utilize existing processing infrastructure and diverse inbound and outbound logistics and is ideally situated to support growing demand for low-carbon fuels, said Matthew Lucey, President of PBF Energy.
St. Bernard Renewables 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 Chalmette refinery will not be affected by the formation of the partnership.
Citi is serving as a financial advisor to PBF Energy.
Our partnership with Eni signals a major milestone for PBF and demonstrates our commitment to contributing diversified sources of energy to the global mix while lowering the carbon intensity of our operations and the products we manufacture, ended Matthew Lucey.
