Yahoo Finance Cenovus CEO weighs in on Phillips 66 refinery sale rumours
Cenovus Energy’s (CVE.TO)(CVE) CEO on Thursday addressed rumours that Phillips 66 (PSX) plans to sell its stake in U.S. refinery assets jointly owned by the two companies.
Jon McKenzie’s remarks on Cenovus’ post-earnings conference call follow a report from the Dow Jones news service this week that Phillips 66 may offer its stakes in the Wood River, Ill., and Borger, Texas, refineries to Cenovus.
“I understand there are rumours swirling. But, you know, there shouldn’t be,” McKenzie told analysts on the call. “We're quite happy with holding that JV through the long term as required.”
"We have been clear that we want to own and operate those assets that we see as core," he added. "We’ve also been clear that we are more likely sellers of those assets than buyers of those assets. And we've also been clear there is a fairly healthy bid-ask spread . . . I don't want to comment on what Phillips is proposing within their portfolio.”
Last week, Houston-based Phillips 66 announced a plan to sell US$3 billion in non-core assets as it reported third-quarter financial results. Phillips 66 says it has identified assets it may sell in 2024, but has not provided specific details.
Last February, then-Cenovus CEO Alex Pourbaix said the company is in early discussions with Phillips 66 about the future of their 50-50 joint-venture ownership of the Wood River, Illinois, and Borger, Texas, refineries.
"When we're involved in refineries that are great refineries, we would love to have 100 per cent of it, all things being equal," Pourbaix said. He added there was no urgency, and said it was too early to speculate on what an alternative to the joint venture could look like.
With files from Reuters.
Jeff Lagerquist is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jefflagerquist.
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