Sidley represented Neste Corporation, a leading supplier of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel, in the establishment of a 50/50 joint venture with Marathon Petroleum (Marathon). The joint venture will produce renewable diesel following a conversion project of Marathon's refinery in Martinez, California (the Martinez Renewable Fuels project). Neste’s total investment will amount to approximately US$1 billion, inclusive of half of the total project development costs projected through completion.
The project is expected to increase Neste’s renewable products capacity by slightly over 1 million tons (365 million US gallons) per annum. Production of renewable diesel is expected to come online in the second half of 2022. The facility is planned to reach its full annual nameplate capacity of 2.1 million tons (730 million US gallons) by the end of 2023.
The Sidley team was led by partners Irving Rotter and Katy Lukaszewski, with assistance from Trent Bridges, Jeff Kinney, Chanse Barnes, Chris Folmsbee, Aaron King, John Zappia and Brad Giacone (all Energy). The team also included Glenn Pinkerton and Joshua Sutton (Energy), Heather Palmer, Allen Braddock and Maureen Gorsen (Environmental), Zack Pullin and Aaron Mitchell (Tax), Lauren Grau and Collin Marshall (Technology and Life Sciences), Jim Mendenhall (Regulatory) and Karen Kazmerzak, Edward Sharon, Tom Bainbridge and Jamie Sadler (Antitrust/Competition).
