EL DORADO, Ark., Sep 01, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE: MUR) announced today that it has entered
into an asset purchase agreement pursuant to which its wholly-owned
subsidiary, Murphy Oil USA, Inc., will sell its refinery in Meraux,
Louisiana and related assets.
The Meraux Refinery is being acquired by a subsidiary of Valero Energy
Corporation for a sales price of $325 million plus the value of
hydrocarbon inventory, and subject to certain other adjustments. The
hydrocarbon inventory will be valued based on market prices at closing
(the inventory is currently valued at approximately $300 million). The
sale is subject to customary regulatory approvals and conditions and is
expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2011.
David M. Wood, Murphy's President and Chief Executive Officer,
commented, "The announcement of the sale of Meraux is another execution
step in our repositioning strategy to exit the refining business." Wood
added, "We will now focus our attention on completing the sale of our
assets in the U.K."
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is acting as legal counsel to Murphy. Goldman,
Sachs & Co. is acting as financial advisor to Murphy.
This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements,
which express management's current views concerning future events or
results, are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. Factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or
implied in our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited
to, the volatility and level of crude oil and natural gas prices, the
level and success rate of our exploration programs, our ability to
maintain production rates and replace reserves, political and regulatory
instability, and uncontrollable natural hazards. For further discussion
of risk factors, see Murphy's 2010 Annual Report on Form 10-K on file
with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Murphy undertakes no
duty to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.
SOURCE: Murphy Oil Corporation
Murphy Oil Corporation
Barry Jeffery, 870-864-6501