Hess Corporation reported that it would complete its exit from the refining business by closing its Port Reading, New Jersey refinery. The terminal network is situated along the U.S. East Coast and has a total of 28 million barrels of storage capacity in 19 terminals, 12 of which have deep water access. The company added that it would continue its long term commitment to the Retail and Energy Marketing businesses and take all the necessary steps to ensure supply security, competitive prices and high quality service for its customers.

The Port Reading refinery, which would be closed by February end, is comprised solely of a Fluid Catalytic Cracking unit and it chiefly manufactures gasoline and components used for blending heating oil. The refinery incurred losses in two of the past three years. The financial outlook for the facility is likely to remain challenged due to the requirement for future expenditures to comply with environmental regulations for low sulfur heating oil and the weak forecast for gasoline refining margins.