Sunoco's Eagle Point refinery move to India far from a done deal

Reports of plans to dismantle and move Sunoco Inc.'s Eagle Point refinery from New Jersey to India appear to be greatly exaggerated.

The Export-Import Bank of the United States has not agreed to finance the project, as an Indian entrepreneur claimed last year.

"It's far from a done deal," bank spokesman Paul Cogan said Monday. "We've received no application. They're definitely overstating it."

In November, Amerind Petroleum Private Ltd. and the Andhra Pradesh state government signed a memorandum of understanding to reassemble the refinery in Visakhapatnam, according to Indian media reports. Syed Badruddin, chairman of Amerind, told reporters the Export-Import Bank would lend $375 million of the project's initial $500 million cost.

Sunoco confirmed in November that it had been trying to sell the equipment at the Westville, N.J., site since the refinery closed two years ago. But Sunoco spokesman Joe McGinn said Monday there was still no deal to sell the machinery.

On a trade mission to India on Friday, Fred P. Hochberg, chairman and president of the Export-Import Bank, told Indian officials the bank had issued a letter of interest to the Indian entrepreneurs indicating it would consider financing. But the letter is nonbinding.

Cogan, the bank's spokesman, said the bank's mission was to support U.S. exports at a net benefit to the American economy. It had not reviewed the economic implications of selling the refinery to an overseas buyer.

"Disassembling a plant and reassembling it overseas is a complex project with many implications," he said.

It's unclear why Amerind officials misrepresented the bank's commitment. Cogan said some prospective loan recipients had used the bank's letters of interest to secure political or financial support for projects.

The story became symbolic of the decline of American manufacturing after some former Sunoco employees reported they had been approached about working as contractors to dismantle the equipment they had helped build and maintain. Sunoco's McGinn said no workers had been hired to break down the plant.

American refineries are grappling with overcapacity. In addition to the Eagle Point plant in Gloucester County, Sunoco says it will sell or close two other Philadelphia-area refineries, and ConocoPhillips has idled its plant in Trainer, Pa.