INEOS have today announced that PetroChina have made an “irrevocable offer of $1.015bn for a 50% share in its European refining business“.
This is an excellent price, given the current weak performance of the European refining industry. INEOS’ negotiating team have clearly done a superb job in ensuring that PetroChina looked beyond these difficulties, and instead focused on the long-term investment opportunity.
As INEOS Refining CEO, Calum MacLean, noted, “this new partnership will secure investment and the long-term sustainability of both sites in a highly competitive market“. Importantly, of course, it is also excellent news for the petrochemical businesses associated with the Grangemouth and Lavéra sites in Scotland and France.
Negotiations were finalised today, before the start of China’s Lunar New Year holiday. Although some details remain to be finalised, the blog understands all “big-ticket items” have been finalised, and that the offer is truly “irrevocable”, with the new organisation expected to start operations late in Q2.
The negotiations have been underway since June 2009. The blog congratulates all those involved in driving them to such a successful conclusion.