Buckeye Partners' operations in The Bahamas generated $46.1 million in the first three months of this year, representing a rise of nearly $5 million over the previous year.
Bahamas Oil Refining Company (BORCO), the company's flagship oil terminal facility on Grand Bahama, has also initiated its expansion plans. It continues to be the jewel in Buckeye's international crown, comprising more than 90 percent of its total revenue among international operations.
Recent acquisitions in the U.S. are expected to "connect the dots" and complete Buckeye's storage and distribution network here in The Bahamas. In fact, Buckeye spent $73.3 million in capital expenditures in the first quarter on the Grand Bahama facility, up from $39 million during the same period in 2011.

"In the three months ended March 31 2012, maintenance capital expenditures included terminal pump replacements and truck rack infrastructure upgrades, as well as pipeline and tank integrity work, and expansion and cost reduction projects included significant investments in storage tank expansion at BORCO, biodiesel and butane blending, rail offloading facilities, and continued progress on a new pipeline and terminal billing system as well as various other operating infrastructure projects," the report stated.
For all international operations, Buckeye plans to invest $170 million in 2012.
BORCO will receive a major expansion and refurbishment to its storage tank capacity, the report went on, as well as further initiatives to improve efficiencies and reduce costs.
Earlier this year, Guardian Business revealed Buckeye's master plan to pour up to $400 million into the BORCO facility to boost capacity.
The NYSE-listed company is expected to provide 7.9 million barrels of additional storage capacity at BORCO in the near term.
The Grand Bahama facility now includes more than 80 tanks, providing 21.4 million barrels of crude oil, fuel oil, and refined petroleum product storage. While the current expansion calls for the addition of 7.9 million barrels of capacity, there is "room to ultimately double the existing storage capacity," the report notes.
Essential to the long-term success of BORCO is the pending acquisition of the Perth Amboy Facility in New York Harbor from Chevron USA Inc. for $260 million.
Buckeye signed the agreement in February 2012, with the final transaction expected to occur in the second or third quarter of this year.
It paid a deposit of $14 million to Chevron in February.
"The Perth Amboy Facility will provide a link between our inland pipelines and terminals and our BORCO facility in The Bahamas, improving service offerings for our customers and providing further support to our planned clean products tankage expansion at the BORCO facility," the report added.
The company is looking capitalize on the shutdown of the HOVENSA oil refinery in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.
Back in January, the Hess Corporation, a key stakeholder in the refinery, said the low price of natural gas in the U.S., new refining capacity in emerging markets and the economic crisis had placed HOVENSA at a "competitive disadvantage".
The refinery was one of the ten largest in the world and the biggest in the Caribbean.
Meanwhile, "environmental liabilities" for the first three months of the year came in at $57.3 million, down slightly compared to the same period in 2011.
Buckeye said costs incurred may actually be in excess of this figure, and could have an impact on cash flow.

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