(Bloomberg) -- Phillips 66, the biggest US fuelmaker by market value, told investors Tuesday it expects to surpass its $3 billion target for asset sales with more dispositions planned.
The Houston refiner, which is closing a refinery in 2025 and shedding other investments to address strategic and governance concerns raised by activist Elliott Investment Management, said it has sold about $2.7 billion in assets since 2022.
“We continue to evaluate all of our assets as part of our strategic priorities and ongoing portfolio optimization,” Chief Executive Officer Mark Lashier said during a third-quarter earnings call.
The $3 billion target is a floor, not a ceiling, according to Phillips 66 executives.
“We will continue to evaluate non-core assets and move forward with any dispositions that we view as favorable for us,” Chief Financial Officer Kevin Mitchell said. “So while we’ve announced $2.7 billion, less than half of that has actually been realized. So we’ve got a fair amount still to come in and there are other transactions that we’re working on.”
The company is in the midst of a multi-year plan to return as much as $15 billion to shareholders by the end of this year through moves such as cost cuts and performance improvements.
The refiner announced Oct. 16 it is closing its two-plant Los Angeles refinery complex by the end of next year. The uncertainty of the facility’s long-term sustainability factored into the decision, Lashier said. So did declining fuel demand and a steep drop in California crude production as well as California’s stated push to move away from fossil fuel, Jeff Dietert, vice president of investor relations, said.
“So it wasn’t any kind of knee-jerk reaction in the face of any policy changes in California,” Dietert said. “This has been a long-term analysis.”
Not counting its Los Angeles operations, Phillips 66 has nine US crude oil refineries and another two in Europe, according to company data.
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