Delta Airlines may partner with JPMorgan to help it run the ConocoPhillips' idled 185,000 barrel per day Trainer, Pa., refinery if the carrier decides to purchase the plant, CNBC reported on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Under the deal, Delta would purchase the refinery for $100 million to $200 million, and JPMorgan's commodities team would finance the refining process, including the purchase and shipping of crude from overseas, CNBC reported.
Delta would then buy the jet fuel from JPMorgan at a wholesale rate, and the bank would sell the other products made by the refinery into the market, the report said.
In addition, CNBC said, at least two oil companies have partnered with Delta in a swaps arrangement in which they would give the airline jet fuel in exchange for some of the other fuel produced by the refinery. The report did not identify which oil companies are involved in the swap deal.
A JPMorgan spokeswoman contacted by Reuters declined to comment on the report. A Delta spokesman said the airline cannot comment on the CNBC story or rumors on the refinery.
Trainer is one of three refineries in the Philadelphia area which have been pushed to the brink of closure by the high cost of crude oil feedstock and waning fuel demand.
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