Vitol to buy controlling stake in Italian refiner Saras

Market: Crude oil, Oil products
12/02/24

Trading firm Vitol has agreed to buy a controlling stake in Italian refiner Saras and take it private in a move that will lift the commodity giant's investments in refining capacity to over 800,000 b/d and grow its footprint in the Mediterranean.

In a deal with Saras' largest shareholder, the Moratti family, Vitol has committed to buy a 35pc stake at €1.75/share with the possibility of buying a further 5pc covered by a derivative contract and held by one of the family.

Upon completion of the deal, which values the refiner at €1.7bn, Vitol will launch a mandatory takeover bid for the remaining Saras shares at the same price as that agreed with the Morattis. The aim of the takeover bid would be to delist the company from the Milan stock exchange, Vitol said.

Besides the 300,000 b/d Sarroch refinery in Sardinia, the largest single-site refinery in the Mediterranean, Saras also has a 575MW power generation plant in Sardinia and a renewable energy portfolio comprising 171MW of operational wind farms and a wind and solar project pipeline of 593MW and 79MW, respectively.

"Saras' business is highly complementary to Vitol's core operations and this transaction will strengthen European energy security and enhance supply for a key European energy asset," Vitol chief executive Russell Hardy said in a statement.

The Moratti family currently has a 40pc holding in the refiner. Massimo Moratti, Saras' chairman and chief executive, holds 20pc while two nephews each own 10pc.

"Saras is today a solid and profitable company, leader in the whole Mediterranean basin, and we trust Vitol will be able to build on the success achieved so far," Massimo Moratti said.

The family has been trying to find an industrial partner for the refinery for several years. Russian state-controlled oil giant Rosneft was previously a key shareholder while trading firm Trafigura bought into the company in 2020 and has since built its stake by purchasing shares on the open market. Trafigura had a 13.75pc stake last year but recently cut it to 9.6pc.

The deal with Vitol is subject to approval from EU competition authorities and also requires the Italian government to give the green light under special powers it has to shield assets deemed of strategic importance. Rome exercised these so-called "golden powers" last year in Russian firm Lukoil's sale of the 320,000 b/d Priolo refinery in Sicily to GOI Energy. In that deal, Trafigura signed a supply and offtake agreement with GOI Energy to further extend its reach in the Mediterranean refining sector.

Vitol and Trafigura have long invested in physical infrastructure assets to complement their core trading businesses. Vitol is already invested in over 500,000 b/d of refining capacity across six refineries in Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia and the UAE.

By Stephen Jewkes

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Opec+ eight agree accelerated hike for June: Update

London, 3 May (Argus) — A core group of eight Opec+ members has agreed to accelerate, for a second consecutive month, their plan to unwind some of their production cuts, the Opec secretariat said Saturday. As it did for May, the group will again raise its collective output target by 411,000 b/d in June, three times as much as it had planned in its original roadmap to gradually unwind 2.2mn b/d of crude production cuts by the middle of next year. The original plan envisaged a slow and steady unwind over 18 months from April, with monthly increments of about 137,000 b/d. But today's decision means that the eight — Saudi Arabia, Russia, the UAE, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria, Oman and Kazakhstan — will have unwound almost half of the 2.2mn b/d cut in the space of just three months. The decision to maintain this accelerated pace into June is somewhat surprising, given the weakness in oil prices and the outlook for the global economy. The eight's decision last month to deliver a three-in-one hike in May was seen as a key reason for the recent slide in oil prices, alongside US President Donald Trump's tariff policies. Front month Ice Brent futures have fallen by about $13/bl since early April to stand at just over $61/bl. But the eight today pointed to "current healthy market fundamentals, as reflected in the low oil inventories" as a key factor in its latest decision. It reiterated, as it has in the past, that the gradual monthly increases "may be paused or reversed subject to evolving market conditions." As was the case for May, delegates said that the main driver for the June hike was again a desire to send a message to those countries that have persistently breached their production targets since the start of last year — most notably Kazakhstan and Iraq, which each have significant overproduction to compensate for through the middle of next year. "This measure will provide an opportunity for the participating countries to accelerate their compensation," the secretariat said. This group of eight is due to next meet on 1 June to review market conditions and decide on July production levels. By Nader Itayim, Aydin Calik and Bachar Halabi Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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London, 3 May (Argus) — A core group of eight Opec+ members look set to today to accelerate, for a second consecutive month, their plan to unwind some of their production cuts, four delegates told Argus . As it did for May, the group would again raise its collective output target by 411,000 b/d in June, three times as much as it had planned in its original roadmap to gradually unwind 2.2mn b/d of crude production cuts by the middle of next year. The original plan envisaged a slow and steady unwind over 18 months from April, with monthly increments of about 137,000 b/d. But today's decision would mean that the eight — Saudi Arabia, Russia, the UAE, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria, Oman and Kazakhstan — will have unwound almost half of the 2.2mn b/d cut in the space of just three months. The decision to maintain this accelerated pace into June would be somewhat surprising, particularly given the weakness in oil prices and the outlook for the global economy. The eight's decision last month to deliver a three-in-one hike in May was seen as a key reason for the recent slide in oil prices, alongside US President Donald Trump's tariff policies. Front month Ice Brent futures have fallen by about $13/bl since early April to stand at just over $61/bl. While Opec+ has said that it is acting to support an expected rise in summer demand, the decision to speed up the output increases once again appears to be driven by a desire to send a message to countries that have persistently breached their production targets — most notably Kazakhstan and Iraq. By Aydin Calik, Bachar Halabi and Nader Itayim Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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