US-based oil refiner Phillips 66 is mulling the sale of its refineries in Ireland, Germany and Malaysia as it focuses on growing returns in its US refining system, the company’s executive vice-president for refining said.
Speaking at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch refining conference, Larry Ziemba said the company would entertain offers for its refineries in Europe and Asia for the right price. “We have a couple of smaller refineries. If we have got the right price for them, they are really not strategic.”
The Whitegate refinery in Cork, which processes 71,000 barrels per day, is Ireland’s only refinery and caters for approximately 40 per cent of the State’s fuel needs.
‘Not sophisticated’
“We’ve got a refinery in Ireland that is small, and not sophisticated. It really can’t compete in Europe,” Mr Ziemba said. Also potentially for sale is Phillips 66’s 47 per cent interest in the PSR-2 refinery in Melaka, Malaysia, and its 18.75 per cent stake in the Mineraloelraffinerie Oberrhein refinery in Germany, Mr Ziemba said.
Referring to the PSR-2 refinery, Mr Ziemba said there was “not a lot of growth opportunity over there and it might be worth more to Petronas or someone else than it is to us”.
“We’ve got a joint venture in Germany . . . We don’t see a lot of growth over there. To the extent that it may be worth more to someone else than us, we’d probably entertain a change there,” he added.
The PSR-2 refinery is a joint venture with Petronas, the Malaysian state oil company, while the Mineraloelraffinerie Oberrhein refinery is a joint venture refinery, with Phillips 66 holding an 18.75 per cent interest, the other owners being Shell, ExxonMobil and Ruhr Oel.
