Valero Energy to buy VeraSun ethanol plants
Texas-based oil company Valero Energy is expected to purchase several ethanol plants from VeraSun Energy.
The $280 million (€216 million) bid from Valero Energy would buy a group of VeraSun properties, including its Aurora plant, if no other bidders arise before a March auction.
VeraSun also plans to sell the rest of its plants this year, primarily to big oil companies seeking to integrate ethanol production into their operations.
At full operations VeraSun distilled more than 1 billion gallons a year at its ethanol plants. High-price corn contracts and the poor economic environment led to its downfall.
‘Given current difficult industry conditions and continued constrained credit markets, we believe that commencing a sale process is in the best interest of company stakeholders,’ Don Endres, VeraSun CEO, says.
Overall, the VeraSun plants Valero is seeking to buy can produce 570 million gallons of ethanol annually from 199 million bushels of corn.
The plants will also have the potential to make cellulose-based ethanol when the technology is scaled up to commercial production.
The $280 million (€216 million) bid from Valero Energy would buy a group of VeraSun properties, including its Aurora plant, if no other bidders arise before a March auction.
VeraSun also plans to sell the rest of its plants this year, primarily to big oil companies seeking to integrate ethanol production into their operations.
At full operations VeraSun distilled more than 1 billion gallons a year at its ethanol plants. High-price corn contracts and the poor economic environment led to its downfall.
‘Given current difficult industry conditions and continued constrained credit markets, we believe that commencing a sale process is in the best interest of company stakeholders,’ Don Endres, VeraSun CEO, says.
Overall, the VeraSun plants Valero is seeking to buy can produce 570 million gallons of ethanol annually from 199 million bushels of corn.
The plants will also have the potential to make cellulose-based ethanol when the technology is scaled up to commercial production.
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