Future projects at Kern Oil and Refining

Foster Wheeler has signed an agreement with the NTR Acquisition Co to perform initial engineering work on planned projects at Kern Oil and Refining Co, pending the closing of the NTR acquisition

NTR announced on November 5, 2007 that it had signed agreements to acquire Kern, a privately held independent petroleum refining and marketing company, from Casey Co, the sole Kern shareholder.

The NTR acquisition of Kern is anticipated to close in the first quarter of 2008.

The Kern refinery is located in Bakersfield, California.

"Foster Wheeler is pleased to have been selected by the NTR experienced management team to commence engineering projects for the Kern facility," said Troy Roder, president and chief executive officer of Foster Wheeler USA Corporation.

"The NTR management has successfully executed such projects with Foster Wheeler in the past and we look forward to collaborating with NTR in this important undertaking within the company's growth strategy in heavy crude oil refining".

"Our agreement with Foster Wheeler is a significant first initiative in the future transformation of the Kern facility into a world-class heavy crude oil refinery," said Mario E Rodriguez, chief executive officer of NTR: "Our acquisition of Kern effectively launches the platform for the NTR growth strategy and we are prepared to quickly implement our plans for additional investment in the Kern operations".

NTR Acquisition Co is a special purpose acquisition company focused on the petroleum refining and marketing industry.

As part of the acquisition, NTR expects to make strategic capital investments in the Kern refinery operations to expand its conversion capacity and to improve its product yield.

The Foster Wheeler work will initially concentrate on engineering assessments in advance of specific projects, which are expected to include the addition of a transmix splitter, isomerisation unit, hydrocracker and delayed coker to the refinery.

The acquisition, which was unanimously approved by the NTR board of directors, is subject to NTR shareholder approval, applicable regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Foster Wheeler is a global company offering, through its subsidiaries, a broad range of design, engineering, construction, manufacturing, project development and management, research and plant operation services.

Foster Wheeler serves the refining, upstream oil and gas, LNG and gas-to-liquids, petrochemicals, chemicals, power, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and healthcare industries.

Back to top