NuStar Energy Jumps 120 Spots in FORTUNE 500

NuStar Energy, L.P., the San Antonio, TX-based oil company with an asphalt refinery in West Deptford, leaped 120 spots in this year’s FORTUNE 500 list, up to 377 from 497 last year.

The company, which employs 160 workers between Linden, Paulsboro and West Deptford, made the jump after posting $6.57 billion in revenue in 2011, a 49.3-percent increase, largely on increased volume and prices for bunker fuel—used to power large ships—and increased crude oil volume and pricing, as well as a spike in revenue from acquiring a 14,500 barrel per day refinery in San Antonio.

“Thanks to our employees, we have weathered the economic downturn better than most companies and established a strong foundation from which to grow,” said NuStar President and CEO Curt Anastasio.

And NuStar may be growing even more soon, Anastasio hinted.

“We are excited to be working on some expansion plans that could be transformative for our company over the next few years,” he said.

NuStar, which was formerly part of Valero, controls 8,420 miles of pipeline, 84 terminal and storage facilities that store and distribute crude oil and refined products, as well as two asphalt refineries—including the —and a fuel refinery, totaling 118,500 barrels per day of capacity.

NuStar bought CITGO’s asphalt refining operation, which included the West Deptford refinery, in 2007 for $450 million, effectively making NuStar the largest asphalt refiner on the East Coast.

The FORTUNE 500, which was topped this year by Exxon Mobil, another Texas-based oil company, ranks companies by total revenue for respective fiscal years, which accounts for NuStar’s big jump.

The combined earnings of FORTUNE 500 companies increased 16.4% from last year to reach a record high of $824.5 billion in 2011, breaking the previous record of $785 billion, set in 2006.

The full list of the FORTUNE 500 can be found online at fortune.com/500, and in the May 21st issue of the magazine, which is currently on newsstands.