CHS Inc. and the two minority owners of the National Cooperative Refinery Association have reached agreement to transfer full ownership of the petroleum refiner to CHS, currently its majority shareholder. The deal is said to be worth 350-million dollars.

Under the agreement between CHS, GROWMARK, Inc., and MFA Oil Co., CHS will purchase additional interest in the McPherson, Kan., refinery in annual increments beginning on Sept. 1, 2012. The four transactions will culminate on Sept. 1, 2015. CHS currently owns 74.4 percent of NCRA, with GROWMARK and MFA Oil holding 18.6 percent and 6.9 percent respectively. 

NCRA was created in 1943 with the purchase of the former Globe Refinery by five farmer-
owned cooperatives.  Today, NCRA consists of an 85,000 barrels-per-day refinery, along with off site storage at Conway, Kan., 1,500 miles of crude oil and refined products pipeline, and a terminal in Council Bluffs, Iowa.  In October, NCRA announced it will construct a new $555 million Delayed Coking Unit at the refinery beginning in 2013, replacing a 60-year-old system. While the new coker will not increase overall refinery production, it will be built to accommodate potential future expansion.

NCRA’s 650 employees will become CHS employees when the purchase is completed in 2015.