Yields on some Virgin Islands Public Finance Authority bonds fell to the lowest in almost three weeks as the sale of a shuttered refinery is set to create jobs in the U.S. territory.

Public Finance Authority debt maturing in October 2029 traded at yields 0.16 percentage point less than when they last changed hands Nov. 7, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The 3.46 percent yield is the lowest since Oct. 22.

Atlantic Basin Refining Inc. said today that it will buy the Hovensa refinery on the island of St. Croix from Hess Corp. (HES) and Petroleos de Venezuela SA for an undisclosed price. The refinerys closing in January 2012 increased unemployment on the island 1,100 miles (1,800 kilometers) from Miami. The facility will employ at least 500 full-time workers, the St. Croix-based company said.

They want the best economic value for the refinery, I want jobs, Governor John de Jongh said in a statement.

Unemployment in St. Croix was 14.8 percent in August, up from an average of 9.8 percent in the year before the refinery shut. The jobless rate in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which includes St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John, was 13.4 percent in August, according to data from the territorys department of labor.

The company said it wants to add hundreds of jobs in subcontracted work at the refinery in addition to the full-time staff. The facility should be operational by the end of 2016.

The refinery will be able to process 300,000 barrels a day and the sale includes 30 million barrels of storage.

The buyer needs an operating agreement with the government of the Virgin Islands. Atlantic Basin said the legislature will meet Nov. 12 to vote on ratification of the accord.

Securities from the territory, which are tax-exempt nationwide, have earned about 11 percent this year, compared with 8 percent for the entire municipal market, data from Barclays Plc show.

To contact the reporters on this story: Michael McDonald in Guatemala City at mmcdonald87@bloomberg.net; Brian Chappatta in New York at bchappatta1@bloomberg.net

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Shuttered Refinery Sale Bolsters Rally in Virgin Islands Bonds