NuStar Energy LP agreed to sell its St. Eustatius Terminal on May 10 to Prostar Capital in a stock purchase agreement with $250 million.

The sale marks NuStar’s exit from the Caribbean, where the storage terminal facility is located, as the San Antonio-based company focuses on growing its core assets in North America including in the Permian Basin.

“We are pleased that this sale allows us to re-deploy the sales proceeds to improve our financial metrics and fund our growth projects for our core business in North America,” Brad Barron, president and CEO of NuStar, said in a statement.

In 2019, Barron said NuStar will focus on its Permian Crude System and other Permian Basin-driven opportunities like its Corpus Christi export facility projects as well as projects along the West Coast of the U.S.

NuStar Energy Asset Map (Source: NuStar Energy LP April 2019 Investor Presentation)
NuStar Energy Asset Map (Source: NuStar Energy LP April 2019 Investor Presentation)

The buyer of NuStar’s St. Eustatius Terminal, Prostar Capital, is a private investment firm established in 2012 to invest in global midstream energy infrastructure assets.

The St. Eustatius Terminal consists of 60 commercial tanks and associated deepwater jetties and pipelines, with a total storage capacity of 2.3 million cubic meters. Located in the Caribbean region, the facility serves several key trading countries, said Steve Bickerton, senior managing director of Prostar.

“We are excited to be acquiring a high-quality terminal facility with many key strategic advantages, including a location at the crossroads of global and regional oil trade, long-term customer relationships with major global oil traders, a strong local operations team, and a highly flexible infrastructure that allows for capacity expansion as growth opportunities arise,” Bickerton said in a statement.

Prostar has originated and managed energy infrastructure investments representing more than $400 million of equity capital invested. The firm operates from offices in Sydney, Hong Kong and Greenwich, Conn.

NuStar first quarter results included non-cash impairment charges of $328 million, related to its St. Eustatius operations, which resulted in a net loss of $278 million for first-quarter 2019.

Barron said he expects to close the transaction by the end of second-quarter 2019.

Emily Patsy can be reached at epatsy@hartenergy.com.