Attorney general seeking buyer for Bakersfield oil refinery

The Associated Press

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer has hired an oil industry consultant to help find a buyer for Shell Oil Co.’s Bakersfield refinery, a spokesman for Lockyer said.

“Shell has said the refinery is not a marketable commodity. We’re going to find out if that’s true,” Lockyer spokesman Tom Dresslar said. “The ultimate objective is to try to find a viable buyer.”

Experts believe closing the refinery would force the state’s already record gas prices even higher. Shell has said it would close the plant in October.

Although the facility is among the state’s smallest and makes only 2 percent of California’s gas and 6 percent of its diesel, economists believe the effect of its closure on gas prices could stretch as far as Washington, Arizona and Nevada.

In response to what he believes is a halfhearted attempt to sell the facility, Lockyer May 26 hired Dallas-based consulting firm Turner Mason & Co. to “locate a buyer with the financial capability, who will increase production of refined products and implement the clean-products technologies while increasing gasoline output to the California market,” according to the state’s contract with the firm.

Lockyer will pay consultant Malcolm Turner as much as $35,000 through the end of July for the services.

If it is determined that the plant can be sold, the firm will work to find a buyer, Dresslar said.

“We welcome Malcolm Turner as we would any other inquiring party, and we would provide him with information once he signs a confidentiality agreement,” said Shell spokesman Stan Mays.

The company has 21 inquiries in various stages but has not received any “credible offers” for the refinery, Mays said.