Kuwait Petroleum International and Gunvor Group reached the final stage of negotiations on the sale of the KP Europoort refinery in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The site includes an API Group I base oil plant with production capacity of 4,650 barrels per day.
The deal has not yet closed, and we have not outlined publicly our plans for the asset, Gunvor Group Corporate Affairs Director Seth Thomas Peitras told Lube Report, referring to the base oil plant.
The deal is subject to regulatory approval and a required employee consultation process.
Gunvor said acquiring the Europoort refinery would enhance its existing refining operations, while also complementing its global trading activities.
According to a news release issued Oct. 8, KPI decided to put the refinery up for sale after re-evaluating its place within the company. KPI said it set out to negotiate a sale that would keep the refinery operating while putting it in the hands of a financially solid, experienced, reliable buyer. KPI is a subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corp., the state-owned energy company of Kuwait.
Founded in 2000, Gunvor Group is an independent commodities trading company with experience acquiring and operating refineries. According to its web site, Gunvor wholly owns two refineries, both acquired in 2012: a 107,500 b/d refinery in Antwerp, Belgium; and a 110,000 b/d refinery in Ingolstadt, Germany. The refinery in Antwerp handles a wide range of intermediate and finished products, including liquid propane gas, naphtha, gasoline, heating oil, vacuum gas oil and bunker grades. The refinery in Ingolstadt sells light products and middle distillates such as gasoline, diesel, heating oil and jet fuel.