Port Hamilton plans 2027 restart of St. Croix refinery with mystery fuel partner

Port Hamilton Refining and Transportation has set its sights on 2027 to bring the long-dormant St. Croix refinery back into operation, with ambitions to eventually produce more than 200,000 barrels daily, according to the company's director.

David Johnson, who leads Port Hamilton, revealed in an interview with Bloomberg that an unnamed commercial partner has agreed to both deliver crude oil to the facility and purchase the refined fuels it produces. Johnson indicated the company hopes to achieve an operational restart within roughly 12 months, though he cautioned that meeting the 2027 goal hinges on securing financing and clearing regulatory, engineering and other hurdles.

The company is pursuing multiple funding paths, Johnson explained, including substantial backing from U.S. government financing schemes alongside interest from private investors and lenders. To date, no financing deal or federal grant has been formally announced.

The restart initiative surfaces just days after Governor Albert Bryan Jr. made a public pitch to the Trump administration, urging it to recognize the refinery as a vital national energy resource and create a unified federal framework for reopening it. In a Washington Examiner op-ed, Bryan contended that the nation should tap into existing American refining capacity at a moment when policymakers are seeking to expand it.

Hess Oil built the facility in 1966. During the 1970s boom, it processed as much as 650,000 barrels daily, briefly ranking as the world's largest refinery. When HOVENSA halted refining in 2012, output had fallen to around 360,000 barrels per day.

Limetree Bay later attempted a revival, spending over 3.2 billion dollars to restart operations in February 2021 at roughly 200,000 barrels daily. The effort collapsed within months. Environmental and operational crises erupted, including releases of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide. In May 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency ordered operations suspended, citing imminent danger to public health and the environment. Limetree filed for bankruptcy and ceased refining.

Port Hamilton acquired the refinery through bankruptcy proceedings. Johnson told Bloomberg the company maintained critical infrastructure and staffed a control room to keep the facility in a secure, idle state rather than mothballing it.

A 2023 victory in federal appeals court strengthened Port Hamilton's position. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit rejected the EPA's position that the refinery needed a new Prevention of Significant Deterioration permit simply because it had sat idle for an extended stretch.

Most permitting obstacles have now been cleared, Bloomberg reported, though regulatory matters will require attention once a concrete startup date is set. An EPA spokesperson said the Trump administration stands ready to work with parties to resolve outstanding issues and chart a safe, lawful path forward.

Johnson acknowledged the troubled history of the previous restart and stressed that Port Hamilton will not rush operations at the expense of safety. He noted that his family lives on St. Croix and his children were born and schooled there.