Limetree Bay Refinery Files For Bankruptcy

ST. CROIX, USVI — Limetree Bay Energy, the company that owns and operates Limetree Bay Refinery, filed for bankruptcy on July 12. The company had originally sought additional funds, according to a report by Reuters, but lenders refused to invest new cash given the refinery's history of operational and regulatory troubles.

The refinery, then called Hovensa, shut down in 2012 but it was reopened in February 2021 as Limetree Bay. Investors were attracted to the refinery's location on St. Croix, which provided easy access to shipping routes through the Caribbean.

The refinery shut down again in June after multiple operational issues plagued the nearby communities and attracted the attention of the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA issued a 60 day shut-down notice in May. In June, the owners announced that the refinery was unable to raise enough funds to re-open and would shut down indefinitely.

According to the bankruptcy filing, the refinery has liabilities between $500 million and $1 billion and assets valued at $1 billion to $10 billion.

Limetree employed approximately 400 people. More than 300 of those employees were laid off in June, according to the Virgin Islands Consortium.

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