Unipetrol’s CFO, Mr Marek Mroczkowski said the company could be interested in raising its 51% stake in Ceska Rafinerska, although he said, it would also depend on the other owners, such as ConocoPhillips, ENI and Royal Dutch/Shell, each owning 16.33% stake.
The CFO commented that negotiations with the owners are in a very early stage. He also added, if any partner would want to sell their stake in Ceska Rafinerska, Unipetrol would have “right to stand first in the queue according to certain legal clauses”. Mr Mroczkowski did not comment directly about recent market speculation that Russian oil company Lukoil was considering a buyout of ConocoPhillips' stake in Ceska Rafinerska.
Our view: We see the news as neutral, until more exact news would emerge about one of the Ceska Rafinerska partners would sell their stake. On a reasonable price, we would view Unipetrol’s intention to increase its stake in Unipetrol positively, as it would allow the company to upgrade Ceska Rafinerska's refineries and expand capacity. An upgrade could also be beneficial for the rest of the group, as with removing the current bottleneck, this vertically integrated group, could go for further upgrades.