Phillips 66 agrees to acquire remaining 50% stake in WRB Refining

US energy company Phillips 66 has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the outstanding 50% ownership interest in WRB Refining from Cenovus Energy’s subsidiaries.

This transaction, valued at $1.4bn, is subject to customary purchase price adjustments and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025.

WRB Refining, a joint venture (JV) between Phillips 66 and Cenovus Energy, owns the Borger refinery in Borger, Texas, and the Wood River refinery in Roxana, Illinois.

These facilities together have a crude throughput capacity of 495,000 barrels per day (bpd), equating to 247,500bpd net to Cenovus.

From the establishment of the JV in 2007, Phillips 66 has managed both refineries.

Post-acquisition, Cenovus Energy's downstream business will consist of the Lloydminster Upgrader, and Lloydminster, Lima, Toledo and Superior refineries.

The combined crude throughput capacity for these will be 472,800bpd, with around 55% of the capacity dedicated to processing heavy crude oil.

Phillips 66 chairman and CEO Mark Lashier said: “With full ownership of the Wood River and Borger refineries, we are strengthening our integrated business and expanding our position in a region where we lead the industry.

“This acquisition is expected to deliver operational and commercial synergies of approximately $50m per year by enabling full integration of these assets with the broader Phillips 66 value chain. We also expect this transaction to unlock opportunities for low-capital, high-return projects that provide incremental long-term shareholder value.”

The Wood River and Borger refineries, with individual capacities of 345 million barrels per day (mbbl/d) and 149mbbl/d, respectively, will contribute an estimated additional 250mbbl/d to Phillips 66' refining capacity once the deal is completed.

The refineries are equipped to process a range of crude types including heavy, medium sour and light sweet crudes, and have a high output of transportation fuels.

Cenovus plans to utilise the proceeds from this sale to reduce its net debt and increase shareholder returns through accelerated share repurchases.

The company, as of August, has bought back around 18.8 million of its common shares for $388m, at an average price of around $20.59 per share.

This acquisition follows Phillips 66’ purchase of EPIC Y-Grade GP and EPIC Y-Grade for $2.2bn in April of this year.

These entities operate subsidiaries, long-haul natural gas liquids pipelines, fractionation facilities and distribution systems, collectively known as EPIC NGL.

"Phillips 66 agrees to acquire remaining 50% stake in WRB Refining" was originally created and published by Offshore Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.

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