By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, Jan. 29 -- A subsidiary of Russian company Yukos Oil Co. has agreed to acquire 49% of Slovakian state pipeline company Transpetrol for $74 million.
The agreement comes after a government tender for the purchase closed in December.
Yukos has an option to purchase the remaining 51%.
"We are able to make more efficient use of the Druzhba pipeline by increasing the transit of oil through Slovakia to western countries and to the Balkans, thus becoming a strategic partner with the Slovak government," said Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Yukos produced 424 million bbl of oil last year, up 17.2% over 2000; its refinery throughput in 2001 was 212 million bbl, up 8.7% from 2000.
