Sunoco's Shuttered Eagle Point Refinery Could Relocate to India

The idled Eagle Point refinery in West Deptford could be relocated to India, as part of a deal announced by Amerind Petroleum Private Ltd., the Andhra Pradesh state government and the American Industrial Corporation this week, according to a report from Mumbai, India-based Daily News & Analysis.

Amerind Petroleum signed a memorandum of understanding with the state government to acquire the refinery for about $505 million and move it to Visakhapatnam, a port city on India's east coast, between Chennai and Kolkata.

The project is funded in part by a $375 million loan from the Export-Import Bank of the United States, an arm of the federal government that provides financing for exports to international markets.

Sunoco spokesman Thomas Golembeski didn't confirm the report, but told the Philadelphia Inquirer the company has been actively pursuing the sale of the refinery equipment since shutting the complex down two years ago.

The assessed value for the 978-acre Eagle Point complex, prior to the county revaluation, was $92,615,500, which produced a property tax bill of about $3.83 million in 2009. Sunoco also owns a number of vacant lots that buffer the refinery, which added up to another $85,971 in property taxes in 2009.

The potential sale of the refinery comes on the heels of an annoucement this summer by Sunoco , in a $100 million deal.

The company has more recently removed the giant Sunoco sign from the refinery property, which fronts Crown Point Road and Route 295.