A few months ago I wrote a feature story that took an in-depth look at the future of aviation biofuel, an area of scientific research that is still very much in its infancy but appears poised for major breakthroughs. In the article, I noted that oil price instability is the chief worry of most every airline CFO around the world, and a big reason why Boeing, Airbus and the Pentagon strongly back biofuel production investment.
One airline has come up with a different way of addressing the problem. Delta Air Lines announced this week that it plans to buy an oil refinery near Philadelphia as a novel approach to reducing its fuel costs. Delta will purchase the Trainer refinery for $150 million from Phillips 66, which was just spun off from ConocoPhillips, in a deal that is expected to be finalized by the end of next month.
