© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of the LyondellBasell-Houston Refining facility in Houston, Texas, U.S., August 31, 2017. REUTERS/Adrees Latif/File Photo
By Erwin Seba
HOUSTON (Reuters) – The United Steelworkers (USW) union said in a letter to its members that Lyondell Basell Industries misled it about potential buyers of the company’s Houston refinery, which the company has set for permanent closure later this month. anus.
“Buyers have approached the International Union who say they are not only willing to buy the refinery at a fair market price, but have been trying to do so since before the closing notice,” the USW said in a letter seen by Reuters on Saturday. .
The letter was sent Friday to members who work at the Lyondell refinery.
According to the letter, the union said it would contact government officials about potential buyers of the refinery and take further action involving union members in the future.
Lyondell spokesman Nick Facchin said the company “disagrees with the allegations” made by the union.
“Lyondell Basell is working to retain as many of its Houston refining employees as possible through a phased redeployment process, which we recently announced,” Facchin said.
Offers made by the refinery when Lyondell was weighing a possible sale in 2021 fell short of the refinery’s value, he said.
The letter was signed by Marcos Vélez, assistant director of USW Region 13, which includes Texas.
Velez said Saturday that Lyondell “flat out” refused to offer redistribution when it announced in April 2022 that the 263,776 barrel-per-day refinery would close at the end of 2023.
“Now, just because the staff is so low that they cannot safely operate the facility, they are discussing possible redeployment to other sites,” Vélez said.
Petrochemical maker Lyondell began trying to find a buyer in 2021 because the refinery is no longer a necessary part of its global plastics manufacturing operations.
In July 2022, Lyondell Chief Executive Peter Vanacker said the company was considering “very large investments” in the site after the refinery shutdown to make it part of a recycled plastics manufacturing system in the area of Houston.
Sources familiar with the matter said morgan kids Inc (NYSE:), which operates a terminal near the refinery, has approached Lyondell about a possible sale.
Kinder Morgan spokeswoman Amy Baek declined to comment Saturday.
Lyondell told Kinder Morgan that he was not interested in selling, the sources said.
Following a purchase, Kinder Morgan planned to operate the refinery’s logistics while an undisclosed partner would manage production.
