Once MOL’s acquisition of Italiana Energia e Servizi (IES) is complete, the Hungarian firm will receive IES’s 2.6 million tonnes per annum Mantova refinery, which has a favorable location in the middle of the industrialized north Italian region. The refinery processes heavy crude oil supplied via a 124km long pipeline owned by IES from the Marghera Port.
MOL hopes to increase the operational capacity of the refinery to three million tonnes per annum in the next five years, with a corresponding increase in the crude pipeline capacity, through a E130 million development program with CAPEX.
IES also markets 2.5 million tonnes of petroleum products, mainly in north-eastern Italy. The company currently has 165 retail stations (of which 30 are company-owned) located mainly in the supply radius of the refinery. MOL also believes that the refinery’s production provides a good basis for further retail expansion in the region.
Zsolt Hernadi, chairman and CEO of MOL, commented: Through the purchase of IES we expand our downstream activities towards the Mediterranean region strengthening further our positions in Croatia, Austria and Slovenia. It also demonstrates that we have further growth opportunities in regions which are complementary to our core markets.
The final purchase price will be revealed after the closing of the transaction, which is subject to anti-monopoly approval and is expected to occur in Q4 2007.
