Unipetrol buys out Eni for ownership of Czech refining company

Unipetrol AS has exercised its right of preemption to acquire soon-to-be former partner Eni SPA’s interest in Ceska Rafinerska AS (CRC), a refining company in Czech Republic (OGJ Online, May 7, 2014).

The company will purchase Eni’s nearly 32.5% stake in CRC for about $40.8 million, Unipetrol said.

Following the completion of the transaction, which is scheduled to occur by yearend, Unipetrol will hold 100% interest in CRC, the company said.

The agreement comes in the wake of Eni’s May announcement that it had agreed to sell its shares in CRC to Hungary’s MOL Group in a deal that was subject to the preemption right on the part of Unipetrol (OGJ Online, May 7, 2014).

Unipetrol’s buyout follows the company’s overall strategy for 2013-17, released in June 2013, in which the operator said it planned to make the largest capital expenditures to further integrate the refining and petrochemical segments of its business in order to ensure the security of petrochemical feedstock supplies for its operations.

CRC operates Czech Republic’s only two running refineries—in Litvinov and Kralupy—which have a combined crude oil processing capacity of 8.7 million tonnes/year, says Unipetrol.