Benefiting From Ban on Russian Fuel Imports, Limetree Bay is Already Hiring and Could Start Oil Production By Year's End, Officials Tell Governor

The recent ban on Russian fuel imports to the United States which took immediate effect when announced by President Joe Biden last Tuesday, is having a positive outcome for at least one company in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The new owners of the Limetree Bay Refinery have told Governor Albert Bryan that the company has started rehiring laid-off employees, and that its regulatory process with the Environmental Protection Agency was making progress. "This is really good for the refinery and their startup because the U.S. went to Venezuela to talk to them about their crude, and our refinery was built to [process Venezuelan] crude so they're in a very good position now," Governor Bryan told the Consortium during an interview on Sunday. The Biden administration last week held meetings with the Venezuelans as the president sought to regain access to the country's oil following the ban on Russian energy products. The outreach, however, was met with stiff bipartisan opposition, with lawmakers...