St. Bernard Renewables completes, begins operating feedstock-pretreatment unit

St. Bernard Renewables, the 50/50 joint venture between PBF Energy and the Italian energy company Eni, successfully completed and began operating its feedstock-pretreatment unit in July, PBF Energy announced in its second-quarter financials released Aug. 3.

The SBR renewable diesel facility, which is scaled at 306 million gallons per year and co-located with PBF Energy’s Chalmette refinery in Louisiana, began commercial production in June after commissioning began earlier this spring.

In late June, Eni and PBF Energy closed on their joint venture.

Upon closing, Eni paid PBF Energy $431 million per their joint-venture agreement.

Eni paid PBF Energy another $414.6 million Aug. 2 once the feedstock-pretreatment unit was completed and operating, including $10.6 million of the $50 million in contingent consideration related to its start up.

The pretreatment unit began supplying feedstock to the renewable diesel unit in July.

That same month, SBR sold its first volumes of biofuel from the renewable diesel facility.

According to PBF Energy, the total direct capital costs for the SBR facility and related project infrastructure, excluding working capital, were approximately $700 million.

“After the second quarter of 2023, PBF is now more than halfway through the second-best financial year for the company,” said Matt Lucey, president and CEO of PBF Energy. “We are on pace to invest approximately $750 million in our refining assets this year to ensure we can continue to safely and responsibly provide our essential products. PBF’s financial condition has undergone a radical transformation and our efforts in that area are being recognized. The earnings of our refining business continue to support the strengthening of our balance sheet and the opportunity to generate long-term value for our shareholders. In June, we completed the formation of the SBR equity investment and began our partnership with Eni. Looking ahead, the balance between global-refining capacity and refined-product demand remains tight. We remain focused on ensuring that our refineries are safe, reliable and available to respond to market demands. PBF’s path forward is bright, and we are committed to generating long-term value for our investors through prudent capital allocation.”