The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

HES was +4% today on announcement of the permanent closure of the Hovensa refinery in the US Virgin Islands that is a 50/50 JV with Venezuela:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Hess-Announces-Charge-Related-bw-3763075885.html?x=0

The stock rallied strongly because Hovensa has been a black hole, losing $1.3B in the past three years. The older portion of the refinery was closed in Jan 2010 (#msg-59363574).

HES will take a $525M after-tax charge against earnings in 4Q11; the PR does not specify the proportion of the write-off that is a cash expense, but I suspect that most of it is a non-cash adjustment to the carrying value on the balance sheet.