(Source: Associated Press/AP Online)
BLOOMFIELD, N.M. - Western Refining Inc. is shuttering its Bloomfield, N.M., refinery and consolidating the operations of its two New Mexico plants in a move the company says will save $25 million per year.
Together, the company's Bloomfield and Gallup plants could process about 40,000 barrels of crude oil a day. Western says it can process the same volume oil at the Gallup refinery alone.
It wasn't immediately known how many workers are employed at the Bloomfield refinery and whether any will be relocated to Gallup.
Western CEO Paul Foster says the decision was difficult but necessary to position the El Paso, Texas-based company amid "weak industry dynamics."
The refining industry is struggling because oil prices have been climbing but gasoline prices have stayed relatively low.
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