LONDON, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- British energy company BP said Tuesday it was looking for buyers for refineries in California and Texas as it reshapes its downstream businesses.
BP last year sold some of its assets in the United States and the Middle East as it looked for money to help pay for costs tied to the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
BP Chief Executive Officer Bob Dudley said during the Tuesday announcement for fourth quarter 2010 financial results that 2011 was "a year of recovery and consolidation" as his company moves beyond the oil disaster.
The company said it plans to sell refineries in Texas City, Texas, and Carson, Calif., as part of what Dudley said was a "transition" for BP.
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"The United States remains a very important market for BP's fuels, lubricants and petrochemicals businesses and the moves we have announced today will give BP a smaller, but well-positioned and very competitive portfolio of refining and marketing businesses," Iain Conn, BP chief executive refining and marketing, said in a statement.
The Carson refinery can produce 265,000 barrels of oil per day and has the ability to meet about 25 percent of the Los Angeles gasoline demand. The Texas City refinery is the third-largest refinery in the United States with a 475,000 bpd capacity.
BP last year agreed to pay the largest penalty ever for Clean Air Act violations stemming from a deadly 2005 accident at the Texas plant.
The Environmental Protection Agency uncovered the violations after investigating a 2005 explosion at the refinery that killed 15 people and injured more than 170 others.
