Vitol Partners With Midland-based LPC Crude Oil, Inc.

HOUSTON, July 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Vitol Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of the global Vitol Group, today announced it had formed a partnership with Midland-based LPC Crude Oil Inc., and had acquired fifty-percent of the company. The company will conduct operations as LPC Crude Oil Marketing LLC. LPC Crude Oil is a leader in the gathering, marketing, and transporting of oil and condensate in the Permian Basin. As a privately held company, LPC Crude has a long term plan for steady growth with a continued focus on providing excellent customer service.

LPC Crude will continue to operate as a separate entity focusing on its core customer base. The entire management team will remain in place. The new partnership will provide additional reach and resources to grow and better help operators in the Permian Basin move their oil to market, while continuing to provide the excellent customer service that LPC Crude Oil Inc. is known for in the region.

"Vitol is pleased to be joining efforts with the team at LPC Crude Oil to increase both company's efforts to service Permian Basin crude oil producers," said Mike Loya, President of Vitol, Inc. "LPC's President Steve Mills and his team have deep roots in the region, and we look forward to the Vitol-LPC venture broadening our reach and helping us to pursue growth opportunities there."

"This is a great opportunity for LPC to partner with an industry leader," said LPC President Steve Mills. "Vitol brings both the financial heft and expanding terminalling and logistics presence in the Permian to help us grow rapidly while still maintaining the small-company atmosphere that allows us to serve our customers so well."

About the Vitol Group.

The Vitol Group was founded in 1966 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Since then the company has grown significantly to become a major participant in world energy markets and is now the world's largest independent energy trader. Its trading portfolio includes crude oil, oil products, LPG, LNG, natural gas, coal, power, metals and carbon emissions. Vitol trades with all the major national oil companies, the integrated oil majors and the independent refiners and traders. Globally Vitol trades over 5.5 million barrels of crude oil and products per day and revenues in 2011 were $297 billion. Vitol currently owns and operates over 100,000 barrels a day of refining assets in Fujairah and Antwerp. In addition to its trading and refining  business and its 50% share in the storage and terminals business VTTI, which has 13 terminals on five continents with around 8 million cubic meters of storage, Vitol has an exploration and production business which includes interests in Ghana, Cameroon, Kazakhstan, Russia and Azerbaijan and a thermal coal mine in British Columbia, Canada. Further details on Vitol are available at www.vitol.com

About LPC Crude Oil, Inc.

Currently, LPC purchases approximately 23,000 barrels of oil per day at the lease, and operates a fleet of 24 tractors and trailers. In Upton and Martin counties, LPC has approximately 21 miles of pipeline under construction or in service. Our company disperses to approximately 5000 owners on 1000 leases in Texas, New Mexico and Colorado. LPC is headquartered in Midland, Texas. For more information visit our website at www.lpccrude.com. The LPC management team consists of Steve Mills, President, Tim Kohn, Vice President and John Kennedy, Chief Financial Officer. The main office telephone number is (432) 682-8555.

For additional information please contact.

Bluetext
Don Goldberg
[email protected]
202-365-5224

SOURCE Vitol, Inc.