Pennsylvania Governor Corbett Speaks During Philadelphia Energy Solutions Celebration

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Governor Tom Corbett today joined representatives of government, labor and business to celebrate the hundreds of jobs saved by the joint venture of Sunoco and The Carlyle Group.

Sunoco and The Carlyle Group have finalized an agreement of sale to form Philadelphia Energy Solutions, a venture that will enable the Philadelphia refinery to continue operating. 

"When the announcement came one year ago that this refinery was closing, the future seemed grim," Corbett said. "By using imagination and a spirit of partnership, we found a solution."

"Government, business and labor came together to work out a solution that included everybody, and today, at a place that will continue to be the oldest, continuously operating refinery in the East, we see a new name, a new company and a new future," Corbett said at a ceremony hosted today by Philadelphia Energy Solutions.

The Philadelphia refinery, the oldest continuously operating refinery on the East Coast, processes 330,000 barrels of oil per day into various refined products. The refinery was scheduled to be closed in August of this year. 

This joint venture between labor, business and all levels of government will save 850 jobs, create 100 to 200 new, permanent jobs, thousands of construction jobs and secure the region's fuel supply by continuing the daily flow of 10 million gallons of various fuels.

"Carlyle Group, an international investment firm, could have placed its money anywhere," Corbett said. "They chose Philadelphia and Pennsylvania after seeing the sense of commitment by the state and local leadership."

"With a deepened Delaware River channel and an expanding Port of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Energy Solutions can become a world-wide player," Corbett said.  "Philadelphia Energy Solutions can help the United States work its way back to energy-independence and economic pre-eminence."

Media contact: Kevin Harley, 717-783-1116

SOURCE Pennsylvania Office of the Governor