Company: OIA
Filing Date: 2025-03-13
Form Type: 424B5
Source: 0001104659-25-023508
Chunk: 187

Company: Invesco Municipal Income Opportunities Trust
Filing Date: 2025-03-13
Form: 424B5
Chunk 187
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 hurricanes, that can cause considerable damage to the territory and disrupt the tourism industry. Any additional natural disasters that impact tourism could adversely affect the Virgin Islands’ economy. Furthermore, the Virgin Islands was closed to tourists from March to May 2020 and from August to September 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of September 19, 2020, the Virgin Islands has reopened to tourism. However, the current and long-term impact of the pandemic remains unknown. The United States continues to be the primary source of visitors to the Virgin Islands. Therefore, any gains in the tourism industry are closely related to economic growth in the United States. In order to expand its tourism industry and insulate the islands from potential economic declines in the United States, the Virgin Islands has begun, in recent years, increasing its tourism marketing to other countries and regions and is evaluating ways to reposition itself as a leading tourism destination through a private-sector driven approach. Important private sector activities in the Virgin Islands include wholesale and retail trade, leisure and hospitality, financial activities, and construction and mining activities. The agricultural sector remains small, which requires most of the territory’s food to be imported. International business and financial services are a small but growing component of the economy. In 2012, the operators of the HOVENSA oil refinery, one of the largest employers in the Virgin Islands at the time, announced that they would close the refinery, laying off approximately 1,200 employees and 950 subcontractors. However, in January 2016, Limetree Bay Terminals, LLC and its affiliates (Limetree) finalized its purchase of the HOVENSA oil refinery, including HOVENSA’s storage and docking facilities. Limetree re-opened the refinery in February 2021. Following multiple major flaring incidents resulting in significant air pollutant and oil releases, the EPA issued notices of violations of the Clean Air Act, and ordered Limetree to pause all operations at the refinery for at least 60 days. In June 2021, Limetree announced the indefinite closing of its oil refining facility on the island of St. Croix and the layoff of 271 plant employees. In December 2021 Limetree sold the refinery through a Chapter 11 asset auction to joint bidders, West Indies Petroleum and Port Hamilton Refining and Transportation. Because of these and subsequent other events, including West Indies Petroleum’s announcement in June 2022 disavowing ownership of the refinery, ongoing litigation, an August 2022