Murphy Oil selling facility: Valero Energy Corp. agreed to acquire Murphy Oil Corp.’s refinery at Meraux for about $625 million. The deal includes $325 million for the refinery and related assets and $300 million for the refinery’s current inventory. San Antonio-based Valero says it plans to fund the purchase from available cash and hopes to close the deal in the fourth quarter if regulators approve. El Dorado, Ark.-based Murphy Oil says the sale is part of a plan to exit the refining business. The refinery has a capacity of 135,000 barrels per day. It has a Mississippi River dock, pipelines to Collins, Miss., and is located about 40 miles from Valero’s refinery at Norco. The deal also includes a product terminal, a 20% interest in the Collins Product Pipeline and terminal, and a 3.2% interest in the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port.
More than doubling staff: A cloud computing company is expanding its facility in New Orleans. Fogo Data Centers is a private company headquartered in Carrollton, Ga. The economic development agency Greater New Orleans Inc. says Fogo will spend $5 million and create 20 new jobs. The company currently has a staff of 17 in New Oreans. Fogo operates regional data centers designed for use by small and medium-size businesses, educational institutions, health care providers and local governments.
