Par Petroleum Changing Name to Reflect Growth Strategy

HOUSTON — A new name and new leader are on tap for Par Petroleum Corp. as it focuses on the company's growth strategy of building and acquiring market-leading businesses.

Beginning Oct. 20, Par Petroleum will be known as Par Pacific Holdings Inc. The company's ticker symbol, PARR, will remain the same. 

To further this strategy, Par has appointed current board of directors member William (Bill) Pate as its president and CEO. 

"Bill is exceptionally capable with a proven record of building shareholder value. I have worked closely with him in successfully developing companies for over 20 years," said Melvyn (Mel) N. Klein, chairman of the board. 

"He has been instrumental in establishing the successful entity that Par is today. His extensive experience in the energy space, combined with his expertise in identifying, funding and developing acquisitions, will help us accelerate our acquisition strategy to take advantage of the current commodity price environment," Klein added.

Par's current CEO, Joseph Israel, will remain on the board of Par Pacific and take on the role of president and CEO of the refining, marketing and logistics business, which will be renamed Par Petroleum LLC.  

"We are delighted Joseph is taking the lead as president of Par Petroleum to specifically focus on enhancing the refining, marketing and logistics piece of our business," Klein said.

Prior to joining Par, Pate was the co-president of Equity Group Investments (EGI), a Chicago-based private investment firm founded and led by Sam Zell. Through an affiliate, EGI is the largest shareholder of Par. 

In his 21 years at EGI, Pate led a team that completed successful investments in many business sectors including energy, power, infrastructure, logistics, chemicals, financial services and health care.  

"It is an exciting time in the energy and infrastructure space, with ample opportunities for development and growth. Par's past performance speaks for itself and I plan to expand our existing footprint by developing and acquiring market-leading energy and infrastructure businesses, leveraging our approximately $1.4-billion NOL tax asset and our talented management team and board of directors," Pate said.

Pate is the former chairman of the board and a long-time director of Covanta Holding Corp., an international owner/operator of energy-from-waste and power-generation facilities.

Houston-based Par, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates a 94 Mbpd refinery with related logistics and retail network in Hawaii. Par also transports, markets and distributes crude oil from the western United States and Canada to refining hubs in the Midwest, Gulf Coast, East Coast and to Hawaii. 

Par also owns an equity investment in Piceance Energy LLC, which has natural gas production and reserves in the Piceance Basin of Colorado.