Total no longer seeking buyer for Texas refinery stake -sources

By Jessica Resnick-Ault
NEW YORK, June 15 (Reuters) - Total SA TOTF.PA has decided
not to sell a 50 percent stake in its Port Arthur, Texas,
refinery almost a year after it retained investment bank Lazard
to advise on the deal, according to three people familiar with
the matter.
The move is a shift for Total, which has considered selling
refineries over the last several years. The company is not
currently planning to sell any additional refineries, the people
said. Total sold its stake in a German refinery in 2015 and had
previously looked to sell its Lindsey refinery in the UK.
Canadian oil producer and refiner Suncor Energy Inc SU.TO
had bid on the asset, but the parties could not strike a deal,
according to people familiar with the negotiations. Two people
familiar with the talks said Total had marketed the stake, but
halted the process after failing to get a bid that matched its
target.
In the event of a sale, Total had intended to remain the
operator of the 225,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) plant, which it
has owned for more than 40 years. The refinery is Total's only
U.S. plant.
A Total spokeswoman declined to comment because the company
does not comment on market rumors.
A Suncor spokeswoman declined to comment on speculation
about acquisitions. In an April 28 conference call, Suncor CEO
Steve Williams said it would "opportunistically" look at
potential deals.
"There are still opportunities, but they will have to be
very attractive opportunities for us to be interested," he said.
The plant would have given Suncor an additional outlet for
refining crude produced in Alberta's oil sands, which can go
from the Cushing, Oklahoma, oil storage hub to Port Arthur
through pipelines like TransCanada's Marketlink conduit.
Joint ventures in refining can be fraught because of
competing trading and operational goals of the partners. Earlier
this year, Shell (LON:RDSa) and Saudi Aramco began plans to terminate their
Motiva Enterprises joint venture, which operates three
refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast.