Northern Tier Energy, the company that owns SuperAmerica and the St. Paul Park oil refinery, said Monday that petroleum industry executive David Lamp has been named chief executive.

Lamp was president of Holly Corp. from 2007 until July 2011, when the company merged with Frontier Oil and he became chief operating officer of Dallas-based HollyFrontier Corp., according to the Northern Tier announcement. Lamp also is chairman of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, a trade association.

He replaces Northern Tier CEO Hank Kuchta, who will retire in March, the company said.

Northern Tier is based in Ridgefield, Conn., but has most of its assets in Minnesota, including the 92,500-barrels-per-day refinery and a share of a crude oil pipeline that feeds it. Its SuperAmerica stores are in Minnesota and Wisconsin, with 163 company-owned stores and another 74 run by franchisees.

In November, Western Refining, a publicly traded oil company based in El Paso, Texas, purchased from two private equity funds a controlling stake in Northern Tier, becoming its general partner and holder of 38.7 percent of its limited partnership units.

David Shaffer