October 9, 2015 [OPIS] - Swiss-based trader Gunvor confirmed by e-mail it's in the final stages of negotiation to buy the Kuwait Petroleum's 88,000-b/d Europoort refinery in Rotterdam, its third refinery in Europe.
The sale “would allow the refinery to continue in line with Gunvor’s integration and optimization strategies” the e-mail said, adding it was subject to regulatory approval and an employee consultation process.
‘The sale would be the result of an intense and careful search for a suitable buyer by KPI, after a reevaluation of its strategy for the KP Europoort refinery,” the statement said.
“Among the most important criteria were continuing with the refinery operations and finding a financially solid, experienced, reliable buyer.”
KPC also owns a 50% stake in a Milazzo, Italy, refinery, via its marketing arm of Q8, and indicated at a conference in Brussels last month month it was focusing on refining opportunities in Asia and restructuring its operations in Europe.
The Europoort refinery opened in 1965, and needs upgrading. Geneva-based Gunvor is signaling it will keep the refinery operating rather than convert it to storage facilities, something that has occurred with other recent refinery sales in the U.K. and on the continent.
Gunvor also owns the 107,500-b/d Independent Belgium Refinery at Antwerp and the 110,000-b/d refinery in Ingolstadt, Germany.
