BP Completes Sale of Gelsenkirchen Refinery to Klesch Group

3 weeks ago 24

BP has completed the merchantability of its Gelsenkirchen refinery and related businesses successful Germany to autarkic refiner Klesch Group, finalizing a divestment archetypal announced successful March arsenic portion of the company's ongoing portfolio optimization strategy.

Financial presumption of the transaction were not disclosed.

The merchantability supports BP's absorption connected disciplined superior allocation and is expected to trim the company's underlying operating expenditure by astir $1 billion. Based connected the asset's humanities performance, BP said the transaction is expected to beryllium escaped currency travel accretive portion transferring the refinery's associated assets and liabilities—including pension obligations, provisions, and different short-term liabilities—to Klesch Group.

"The woody strengthens our equilibrium expanse and simplifies our portfolio," Richard Harding, BP's interim enforcement vice president of Downstream, said successful a statement. He added that the institution is concentrating superior connected the assets and markets wherever it believes it tin vie astir effectively.

The transaction includes the Gelsenkirchen refining complex's Horst and Scholven sites, an integrated refining and petrochemical hub, arsenic good arsenic the Bottrop vessel farm. The refinery has crude distillation capableness of astir 265,000 barrels per time and processes astir 12 cardinal tonnes of crude lipid annually, producing gasoline, diesel, pitchy fuel, heating lipid and petrochemical feedstocks.

BP said it determined that a caller proprietor would beryllium amended positioned to enactment the refinery's semipermanent future. Employees astatine the refinery and associated businesses person transferred to Klesch Group arsenic portion of the transaction.

Patrick Wendeler, BP's caput of state for Germany, said the institution volition proceed serving customers successful Germany done its remaining operations, including its Aral retail network.

Following the sale, BP's refining portfolio consists of 5 refineries: Cherry Point and Whiting successful the United States, and Castellón, Lingen and Rotterdam successful Europe.

For Klesch Group, the acquisition expands its refining footprint successful Germany, adding to the Heide refinery it acquired from Shell successful 2010. The institution besides owns the Kalundborg refinery successful Denmark, purchased from Equinor successful 2022.

BP said its Refining Indicator Margin and refining Rule of Thumb metrics volition beryllium updated with its second-quarter 2026 results connected August 4 to bespeak the completed divestment.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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