BP’s Texas Refinery Sale Shows Volatile Industry’s Decay

BP Plc may get less than half the $2.85 billion it planned for selling its Texas City refinery, the third-largest in the U.S., as values for U.S. plants haven’t kept pace with soaring profits.

The average price of U.S. refineries sold since 2009 indicates the plant should sell for $1 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg Industries show, a valuation that would be among the lowest in two decades. At a time when investors are enjoying the highest stock returns since 2007, BP would reap less than half of the $4.4 billion total value it estimated it would get when it put its Texas and Carson, California, plants up for sale last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.