USVI: Oil Refinery to Reopen Under $1.4B Deal with ArcLight

The U.S. Virgin Islands announced Monday that it reached a $1.4 billion deal to reopen one of the world's largest oil refineries in a move expected to boost the U.S. territory's economy. Gov. Kenneth Mapp said private equity firm ArcLight Capital Partners LLC will restart a refinery in St. Croix that closed in 2012. He said more than 1,200 construction jobs will be created and that refinery operations will start in late 2019 with an estimated 200,000 barrels of crude oil to be processed daily. Mapp said revenues could top $600 million over the first 10 years. "This landmark deal to jumpstart our recovery and to pave the road to better times...requires us to move expeditiously if the refinery is to restart on schedule," he said in a statement.