Energy - PCK Schwedt: Shell wants to sell shares to British oil company
The energy group Shell wants to sell its 37.5 percent stake in the large East German refinery PCK Schwedt to the British Prax Group. This was announced by Shell on Friday. The company expects the deal to be completed in the first half of 2024, making the future of the important industrial plant in north-eastern Germany a little clearer. For the time being, nothing should change for the supply of petrol and diesel to consumers and kerosene to the capital's BER airport.
Shell announced the sale of its shares years ago. The Austrian Alcmene Group was long considered the most likely buyer. However, the takeover of the Shell shares announced in 2021 did not materialize. This is because the Russian Rosneft Group, which owns a good 54% of the shares in PCK via two subsidiaries, asserted a right of first refusal.
Rosneft shares under trustee administration
Following the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the conversion of the oil supply for the refinery, the Rosneft shares are now under trustee administration by the federal government. There are also pre-emption rights for the sale of Shell shares this time, including for the other minority shareholder Eni, which owns 8.3 percent of the refinery. Shell therefore stated that the deal was "subject to the rights of the partners and regulatory approvals".
The British Prax Group is an internationally active oil company. It trades in crude oil, petroleum products and biofuels. According to its own information, it has 1450 employees at eight locations worldwide. Prax is very small compared to Shell, another British group with more than 90,000 employees worldwide and an annual turnover of 380 billion US dollars.
Why Shell wants to sell the shares
Shell - also known in Germany for its petrol station network of the same name - justifies the sale by stating that it wants to "reduce its global refinery portfolio to core locations that are integrated in the centers of Shell's operating activities". Executive Vice President Machteld de Haan said: "This is another important milestone on the way to a focused refinery portfolio and the development of high-quality, integrated sites such as the Energy&Chemicals Park Rheinland."
According to dpa information, however, there will be no changes to the supply of crude oil to the PCK refinery via the ports of Rostock and Gdansk or to the distribution of refined products in north-eastern Germany and western Poland. According to PCK, nine out of ten cars in Berlin and Brandenburg run on petrol and diesel from Schwedt.
Crude oil came from Russia for decades
The plant can process up to twelve million tons of crude oil per year. For decades, the crude oil came from Russia via the Druzhba pipeline. Following a decision by the German government, the supply was stopped and switched to deliveries of tanker oil and oil from Kazakhstan.
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- The British Prax Group, known for its involvement in crude oil, petroleum products, and biofuels, is poised to potentially acquire Shell's shares in PCK Schwedt.
- The Austrian Alcmene Group was once considered a strong contender for purchasing Shell's shares in PCK Schwedt, but the deal never materialized due to complex ownership structures.
- The sale of Shell's shares is subject to the rights of its partners and regulatory approvals, as well as pre-emption rights for minority shareholders like Eni.
- The British Prax Group operates with a much smaller workforce compared to Shell, boasting only 1450 employees across eight locations globally.
- Shell, with a large presence in Germany through its petrol station network, aims to reduce its global refinery portfolio by focusing on core locations.
- Nearly all cars in Berlin and Brandenburg run on fuel refined at the PCK Schwedt refinery in northeast Germany, making the plant a crucial energy source in the region.
- The supply of crude oil to the PCK refinery has shifted from Russian sources to tanker oil and Kazakhstani deliveries following a government decision.
- Shell's energy group intends to focus on developing high-quality, integrated sites, such as the Energy&Chemicals Park Rheinland, as part of its refinery portfolio strategy.
- The future of the PCK Schwedt refinery remains uncertain, with the sale of Shell's shares to the British Prax Group expected to close in the first half of 2024.
Source: www.stern.de
