Dallas-based Sunoco to buy Whiddy Island oil terminal

One of the State’s strategic oil stores is being sold in a deal between two multinationals, it emerged on Thursday.

Dallas, Texas-based motor fuels distributor Sunoco is buying a the oil terminal on Whiddy Island, Bantry Bay, Co Cork, from its owner, Canada-based, London- and Oslo-listed Zenith Energy.

Whiddy Island is Ireland’s biggest liquid fuels terminal and one of several in the Republic used by the State’s National Oil Reserves Agency, which did not comment on the deal.

News of the sale is likely to spark reaction locally as the business employs more than 30 workers and Zenith had widely flagged plans to invest in green hydrogen and ammonia production at the site, alongside Cork company EI-H2.

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Seán Kelly, Ireland South MEP, just days ago queried whether progress had been made on the project, originally announced in 2021.

The pair had intended using wind-generated electricity to produce both gases in a project they predicted would create large numbers of jobs.

The Whiddy operation is a subsidiary of Zenith Energy Netherlands BV, the entity that Sunoco is buying, which also owns oil terminals in Amsterdam, one of Europe’s biggest ports.

Neither party revealed the price pending completion of the deal. Its most recent accounts show that Zenith Energy Bantry Bay Terminal Ltd earned €1.25 million profit in 2021 on sales of almost €21 million. The Irish business employs 32 people.

Zenith focuses on oil exploration and development in Europe and Africa.

Sunoco predicted that shareholders would see a boost from the transaction within a year of its closing, which is likely to be over the next three months.

The company added that it would optimise supply for its existing business on the east coast of the United States.

Sunoco also said on Thursday it had agreed to sell 204 convenience stores in west Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma in the US to 7-Eleven for about $1 billion (€910 million).

The US company said the proceeds from the sale would allow it to materially reduce debt to aid future growth. – Additional reporting: Reuters