LONDON: Puma Energy has bought the Milford Haven oil refinery in Wales and the other UK assets of Murphy Oil Corporation, Puma said in a statement on Friday, with plans to turn the Welsh site into a storage terminal.

Puma Energy, which is part-owned by Swiss-based commodity trading giant Trafigura and Angola's national oil company, said it would buy the Milford Haven facility and the wholesale energy sales business and three inland terminals owned by Murphy's UK subsidiary, Murco.

A deal to keep Milford Haven operating as an oil refinery collapsed in November, putting 450 jobs at risk. Puma said it would welcome "all the terminal and distribution employees", as part of the acquisition.

"The company will acquire the assets and convert the site into a state-of-the-art storage facility," Puma said in a statement. "(Puma) will make Milford Haven a key site securing the supply of energy to the UK and wider region."

The acquisition will boost Puma's global oil storage capacity to 7 million cubic meters squared from 5.6 million, the firm said.

Milford Haven's closure followed that of the Coryton refinery in the east of England in 2012 after the collapse of its owner, Switzerland-based Petroplus.

A bitter industrial dispute between the Unite union and Ineos in 2013 brought the Grangemouth refinery in Scotland to the brink of closure, before the Scottish and UK governments provided financial support.