Delta trying to unload East Coast refinery: sources

Delta wants to sell its oil refinery in Trainer, Pennsylvania, after attempts to offer a partial stake in the plant late last year failed, according to two people familiar with the matter. The airline hired investment banks last year to organize the sale of a stake in its Monroe Energy refining subsidiary, signaling it wanted to share the risk of running an energy business. The offer failed to attract sufficient interest because a refinery on the East Coast is viewed as an undesirable asset given the rising costs of acquiring crude oil. The airline, the largest in the US by market capitalization, now wants to sell the entire plant with an eye toward finding a buyer that would agree to a long-term contract with Delta to buy the plant’s jet fuel, the sources said. A Delta spokesman declined to comment, but pointed to comments made by CFO Paul Jacobson last month when asked for an update on the search for a partner in Monroe Energy. “We have continued with that process and have received some interest in having discussions with parties. There’s no update on the strategy broadly as we articulated,” Jacobson said in a January 15 earnings call.<br/>