Par Montana new operator of former ExxonMobil Billings refinery

BILLINGS — Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. officially took over operations of the former ExxonMobil Billings refinery Thursday.

The $310 million sale, originally announced in October 2022, gives Par Pacific control of the refinery and associated marketing and logistics assets. Going forward, the refinery and logistics business will be known as Par Montana.

“We are extremely pleased to close the Billings acquisition and welcome the Par Montana team to Par Pacific,” said William Pate, chief executive officer. “This acquisition significantly enhances our scale and geographic diversification. We expect the transaction to be immediately accretive to our earnings and cash flow.”

The refinery is a 63,000 barrel-per-day (bpd), high-conversion, complex facility that processes low-cost Western Canadian and regional Rocky Mountain crude oil. In October, ExxonMobil said it was selling the Billings facility to focus on higher-value products, signaling a transition away from fossil fuels in the region.

Par Pacific was excited to add Billings to its footprint in the Northwest, which already includes refineries in Tacoma, Washington and Newcastle, Wyoming.

“The key element of our strategy here is actually getting our reliability up and getting more production,” Pate said at the ribbon-cutting Thursday. “The state of Montana, the states around Montana, they need more fuels. It’s a tight market.”

The logistics assets include the wholly owned 70-mile, 55,000 bpd Silvertip Pipeline, a 40% interest in the 750-mile, 65,000 bpd Yellowstone refined products pipeline, and four wholly owned and three joint venture refined product terminals located in Montana and Washington. Total storage capacity across the refinery and logistics locations totals 4.1 million barrels. Further, Par Pacific will supply approximately 250 Exxon and Mobil branded retail locations as part of the arrangement with ExxonMobil.

ALEC BOFINGER / MTN News

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The refinery was opened in 1949 by Carter Oil Co. and had been operated by Exxon since 1973.

A Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. press release contributed to this report