Chinese oil company is poised to take over one of the 10 largest oil refineries in the world – a refinery in a U.S. territory – threatening livelihoods, the environment, and U.S. national security.
The Virgin Islands Senate recently approved the sale of the HOVENSA oil refinery and storage facility for $420 million to ArchLight, the alter ego of Sinopec, a joint venture of China’s second-largest oil conglomerate and the Bank of China. The Chinese aren’t interested in refining any oil there. Instead, they want the accompanying tank farm, which would allow them to store as much as 32 million barrels of refined oil and petrochemicals deliverable to New York or Philadelphia cheaper than from our own U.S. Gulf Coast.