Eren Sitki really believed his Sunoco refinery maintenance supervisor's job might be coming to an end soon. Sunoco Inc. could not find a buyer for its west Tulsa plant and was seriously thinking about ramping it down into a storage site.

Holly Corp.'s timely move to buy the refinery for $65 million and plan another $150 million in environmental upgrades beginning this year has Sitki, who has worked at the plant nearly seven years, looking at the future in a more positive light.

"Without this acquisition, many of us would have been looking for work somewhere else," he said Tuesday. "It's real exciting."

Holly executives, local elected officials, chamber of commerce leaders and employees gathered at the refinery to introduce the plant's new owners.

Dallas-based Holly closed on its deal earlier this month and hopes to break ground later this year on projects to build a new diesel hydrotreater and sulfur recovery unit.

Those environmental upgrades are crucial to the refinery's hopes for processing 85,000 barrels per day well in the future. They also are the immediate priorities of the plant's new owners.

"We're concerned about the environmental conditions," new plant manager Jim Resinger said, pointing out that Sunoco hadn't invested in major new equipment for decades. "We'll be concentrated on improving those."

The refinery's focus on diesel fuels and specialty lube oils attracted Holly in the first place, officials said. The move diversifies the company's product offerings and its footprint in the central Plains, Holly President Dave Lamp added.

The planned hydrotreater and sulfur recovery units will allow Holly to meet standards for ultra low sulfur diesel by 2011. And Lamp predicted that diesel will be the true alternative transportation fuel of the future.

"Diesel engines are 30 percent more efficient," he said. "A lot of Europe already has converted to diesel."

Holly's purchase saved up to 366 jobs at the historic refinery, which has operated for nearly a century under various owners. Sunoco or one of its forerunners has owned the site for 41 years.

The 62-year-old Holly Corp. has grown slowly and entered the refining business in 1969. It operates plants in New Mexico and Utah.

"We're not as big as Sunoco," said CEO Matt Clifton. "You're one of our main hubs."

He added that Holly likes to buy facilities when times are tough and selling prices are down. The company acquired the refinery from Sunoco for about one-fifth of what some analysts thought it was worth, but plunging energy prices and collapsing credit markets last year likely pushed negotiations in Holly's favor.

That's OK with many local leaders.