Limetree Bay Terminals was the name given to the bulk liquid storage and marine terminal facility on the south shore of St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, following its acquisition from bankrupt refiner HOVENSA in 2016. The terminal — now rebranded as Ocean Point Terminals — operates independently from the adjacent refinery, which remains shut down after a catastrophic restart attempt in 2021 ended in an EPA emergency shutdown order, Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and a transfer of ownership through a $62 million auction. The story of Limetree Bay is one of the most significant terminal and refinery failures of the decade, and the St. Croix site continues to attract search interest from energy industry professionals tracking its status and ownership.
From HOVENSA to Limetree Bay: The 2016 Acquisition
The St. Croix refinery was constructed in 1966 by Hess Oil Virgin Islands Corporation and expanded to a peak capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, making it one of the largest refineries in the Western Hemisphere through much of its operating life. In 1998, Hess formed a joint venture with Venezuela’s PDVSA to create HOVENSA, which operated the refinery using Venezuelan heavy crude as feedstock. HOVENSA shut the refinery in 2012 amid falling refining margins and a structural shift in the US refining market, leaving more than 2,000 workers unemployed on an island economy heavily dependent on the facility.
In 2016, a joint venture of ArcLight Capital Partners and Freepoint Commodities acquired the site and rebranded the storage terminal operations as Limetree Bay Terminals. The storage business — 167 tanks with a combined capacity of approximately 34 million barrels, deep-water access to 11 docks, and an offshore Single Point Mooring capable of handling VLCCs — was operational and generating revenue throughout this period. The refinery itself remained idle.
The Refinery Restart: $4 Billion, Five Months, and an EPA Shutdown
In late 2018, Limetree Bay Terminals secured $1.25 billion in financing to partially restart the refinery, with a plan to produce approximately 200,000 barrels per day of low-sulphur fuel oil and refined products. The Trump EPA issued a Clean Air Act Plantwide Applicability Limit permit in December 2020 to facilitate the restart, which became a flashpoint between the administration and environmental groups representing the predominantly Black community surrounding the facility in Christiansted.
The refinery restarted in January 2021. More than $4 billion had been invested to put the refinery back in business, according to a later bankruptcy court filing. The restart lasted five months. During a gas flare incident in May 2021, oil droplets emitted from a smokestack rained down on nearby houses, fouling rainwater collection systems. Residents across the island reported feeling nauseous and ill from the release of fumes.
On May 14, 2021, the EPA ordered Limetree Bay to pause all operations at its St. Croix refinery following multiple air emissions incidents, citing imminent and substantial endangerment to public health. It was only the fourth time EPA had exercised its Section 303 emergency shutdown authority under the Clean Air Act. Limetree Bay was unable to secure the necessary funding for restart and cut approximately 271 employees effective September 19, 2021, suspending the refinery restart indefinitely. The Department of Justice filed a complaint in federal court in July 2021 alleging the refinery presented an imminent and substantial danger to public health and the environment. Limetree Bay Refining filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy the same day.
The Split: Ocean Point Terminals and Port Hamilton
The 2021 bankruptcy and shutdown resulted in a legal and operational division of the 2,000-acre St. Croix site into two separate entities, a structure that has generated ongoing litigation ever since.
The storage terminal — the commercially viable half of the operation — was separated from the refinery. In August 2022, Limetree Bay Terminals renamed itself Ocean Point Terminals , with CEO Todd Dillabough framing the rebrand as a statement of the terminal’s operational independence and continued activity. Ocean Point Terminals operates 167 tanks with approximately 34 million barrels of capacity and deep-water access to 11 docks, including a Single Point Mooring capable of loading and discharging vessels up to VLCC size. Customers include integrated oil majors, refiners, and global trading houses. The terminal continues to operate as one of the largest crude and petroleum products storage hubs in the Caribbean, rivalling the scale of terminals in the top US oil storage terminal rankings.
The refinery was sold at a bankruptcy auction in December 2021 for $62 million to a consortium of West Indies Petroleum Limited and Port Hamilton Refining and Transportation. Port Hamilton has not restarted the refinery as of 2026. The EPA continues to monitor the site, and Port Hamilton must satisfy significant regulatory requirements — including a new Prevention of Significant Deterioration permit and consent decree — before any restart can proceed. A 2023 federal appeals court ruling struck down one element of EPA’s permit requirements, but the broader regulatory framework blocking restart remains in place.
The two companies share infrastructure under a contested shared services agreement and have been engaged in active litigation over costs, access, and contractual obligations since 2022.
The Terminal Today: Ocean Point Terminals in 2026
Ocean Point Terminals operates as a standalone bulk liquid storage and marine terminal business, physically located on the same site as the idle refinery but commercially independent. The facility is strategically positioned at the crossroads of the global crude and refined products markets, serving the Caribbean, Central and South America, Mexico, West Africa, and US Gulf Coast export markets. Services include storage, segregation, blending, and marine loading and discharge of crude oils, fuel oils, bunker fuels, gasolines, diesel, jet fuel, and LPG.
The terminal’s Caribbean geography — close to the Panama Canal approaches and on the primary tanker routes between the US Gulf Coast and Atlantic markets — gives it a strategic position that has sustained commercial activity through the refinery’s turbulent ownership history. For independent tank terminal operators globally, the Ocean Point story illustrates the risk of combining refinery and terminal assets under a single investment thesis: the terminal survived; the refinery did not. The terminal business model — fee-based storage and marine handling — proved resilient where the margin-sensitive refining operation failed, a pattern seen elsewhere in the Caribbean, including at the IMTT terminal network in Louisiana, which has also navigated regional energy market shifts through pure terminal operations.
Site Snapshot
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Location | St. Croix, US Virgin Islands |
| Terminal operator (current) | Ocean Point Terminals (formerly Limetree Bay Terminals) |
| Terminal capacity | ~34 million barrels across 167 tanks |
| Marine access | 11 docks + offshore VLCC-capable Single Point Mooring |
| Refinery operator (current) | Port Hamilton Refining and Transportation |
| Refinery status (2026) | Idle — has not restarted since May 2021 EPA shutdown |
| Original name | HOVENSA (Hess / PDVSA JV, operational 1966–2012) |
| Limetree Bay acquisition | 2016 — ArcLight Capital Partners + Freepoint Commodities |
| Refinery restart attempt | January 2021 — shut down May 2021 by EPA emergency order |
| Refinery bankruptcy | July 2021 — Chapter 11 filing |
| Refinery sale | December 2021 — $62 million to West Indies Petroleum / Port Hamilton |
| Terminal rebrand | August 2022 — Limetree Bay Terminals → Ocean Point Terminals |
What happened to Limetree Bay Terminals?
Limetree Bay Terminals rebranded as Ocean Point Terminals in August 2022. The storage terminal continues to operate with approximately 34 million barrels of capacity across 167 tanks on St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. The adjacent Limetree Bay Refinery — a separate legal entity — was shut down by EPA emergency order in May 2021 after oil rained on surrounding communities, filed for bankruptcy in July 2021, and was sold to Port Hamilton Refining and Transportation at auction for $62 million in December 2021. The refinery has not restarted.
Why did Limetree Bay shut down?
The Limetree Bay Refinery shut down after a series of air emissions incidents in early 2021. A May 2021 flare event sent oil droplets raining down on homes in Christiansted, contaminating rainwater systems and causing illness among residents. The EPA used its Section 303 emergency powers under the Clean Air Act — only the fourth time in history it had done so — to order an immediate shutdown. Limetree Bay was unable to secure funding for a compliant restart and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2021.
Who owns the Limetree Bay site now in 2026?
The 2,000-acre St. Croix site is divided between two separate companies. Ocean Point Terminals — formerly Limetree Bay Terminals — owns and operates the bulk liquid storage and marine terminal business. Port Hamilton Refining and Transportation owns the idle refinery, which has not restarted since the 2021 EPA shutdown. The two entities share infrastructure under a disputed services agreement and have been in active litigation since 2022.
How large is Ocean Point Terminals?
Ocean Point Terminals operates approximately 34 million barrels of crude and petroleum products storage across 167 tanks, with access to 11 marine docks and an offshore Single Point Mooring capable of handling vessels up to VLCC size. It is one of the largest petroleum storage hubs in the Caribbean basin.
What was HOVENSA and how does it relate to Limetree Bay?
HOVENSA was a joint venture between Hess Corporation and Venezuela’s PDVSA that operated the St. Croix refinery from 1998 until its closure in 2012. At its peak the facility had a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, making it one of the ten largest refineries in the world. HOVENSA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2015. The site was subsequently acquired by ArcLight Capital Partners and Freepoint Commodities, which rebranded the storage terminal as Limetree Bay Terminals in 2016 and attempted to restart the refinery in 2021.