Italy’s Eni SPA has signed several agreements to sell its refining and marketing assets in eastern European countries as a part of its strategy to reduce the company’s global refining capacity.
Eni agreed to sell its nearly 32.5% stake in Ceska Rafinerska AS (CRC), a refining company in Czech Republic, to Hungary’s MOL Group.
The transfer is subject to the preemption right on the part of Eni’s other partner in CRC, Unipetrol, according to a May 7 release from Eni.
Eni said it has also inked additional agreements to sell MOL Group its refining and marketing subsidiaries operating in Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Romania.
The final sale of these subsidiaries—which include Eni Ceska Republika, Eni Slovensko, and Eni Romania—remains contingent on prior approval by the respective antitrust authorities, the company said.
While Eni said it will remain active in the wholesale marketing of lubricants in all three countries, the sale of its Czech, Slovakian, and Romanian subsidiaries is part of the Italian company’s refining capacity reduction plan to increase profitability (OGJ Online, Feb. 18, 2014).
With the shedding of its share in CRC, Eni will decrease its overall refining capacity by 7%, the company said.
A series of capacity reductions in its Italian refining business over the last 3 years contributed a 13% reduction in the company’s global refining capacity in 2013, according to Eni.
Eni previously said it plans a further capacity reduction of 22% in the next 3 years, which would reduce the company’s total refining capacity by more than one-third since 2012 (OGJ Online, Feb. 18, 2014).
