A biofuels producer said it is proposing to acquire the fire-damaged Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery and convert it to make renewable diesel and jet fuels.

SG Preston Co is the first company to identify itself as a potential buyer of the refinery, the oldest and largest on the East Coast. PES’s owners halted production at the 335,000 barrel-per-day refinery and put the 1,300-acre (526-hectare) facility up for sale after a June fire damaged one of its gasoline-producing units.

The biofuels company would convert at least a portion of the plant to make renewable diesel, marine diesel and jet fuel. Raw material for the fuels would be fats, oils and grease acquired mainly from surrounding communities, two people familiar with the meetings said.

"We can use the existing equipment, labour and regional waste streams to show the rest of the country how to bring back our jobs and industries," Randy LeTang, chief executive of Philadelphia-based SG Preston, said in a statement.

Financial terms of its proposal could not immediately be learned.

SG Preston in 2016 agreed to supply airline JetBlue more than 33 million gallons a year of a biofuel blend that is made from 30 per cent plant-based oils and designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared with conventional fuels.

"This is what the PES refinery and other idled or closed oil refineries can become to meet the domestic and global demand for cleaner fuels and energy, and safer air," said LeTang.