Adnoc seals $5.8b refining and trading deal with ENI, OMV

Abu Dhabi - The partners will own the same proportions of the joint trading venture.

In a landmark deal worth $5.8 billion, the UAE's energy giant Adnoc sealed an agreement with Italy's Eni and Austria's OMV for selling 35 per cent stake in its refining business.
As per the deal, Eni and OMV will acquire a 20 per cent and a 15 per cent share respectively in Adnoc Refining, with the Abu Dhabi company owning the remaining 65 per cent. OMV will pay around $2.5 billion while Eni will pay around $3.3 billion, giving Adnoc Refining an enterprise value of $19.3 billion. The three companies also agreed to establish a joint venture trading operation.
Adnoc Group's Chief Executive and UAE Minister of State Sultan Al Jaber on Sunday described the deal as a "one of a kind", and said the whole oil and gas industry hasn't seen a transaction of this size and sophistication. The deal will expand Adnoc's access to European markets as the three companies will sell refined oil products globally.
The agreement includes output from the Ruwais Refinery, the fourth largest single site refinery in the world. 
Eni's CEO Claudio Descalzi said the partnership would increase its global refining capacity by 35 per cent.
OMV's CEO Rainer Seele said the deal, which is set to close in the third quarter of 2019, is a major milestone in relation to its Strategy 2025 plan.
Adnoc Refining, which has total refining capacity of 922,000 barrels per day, is expected to boost capacity further with the development of a new 600,000bpd refinery. The expansion will enable capacity to rise to 1.5 million bpd. 
issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com