EMEA News
Vitol and Trafigura Among Bidders in Petrol Ofisi Sale: Sources
Sources understood to have knowledge of the matter say Austria-based OMV AG (OMV) has received bids from Vitol SA (Vitol), Trafigura Group Pte (Trafigura), State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (Socar) and Opet Petrolculuk AS (Opet) for its Turkey-based subsidiary OMV Petrol Ofisi A. S. (Petro Ofisi), Bloomberg Markets reports.
As Ship & Bunker reported in February, OMV said it was looking to sell up to 100 percent of Petrol Ofisi, which sells bunkers and marine lubricants, among other products.
BP Plc (BP) and Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco) are also weighing bids, said the sources, noting that the business could be valued at about $1.2 billion.
OMV is reported to have bought Petrol Ofisi for more than $2.5 billion from Dogan Sirketler Grubu Holding AS (Dogan Sirketler Grubu) in a number of stages between 2006 and 2010.
An OMV spokesperson confirmed that the process for Petrol Ofisi's sale is under way, but did not provide further details.
OMV is said to have agreed on Monday to the sale of the Aliaga fuel storage terminal to a group led by Socar.
Opet, Socar, BP, Trafigura, and Vitol are all noted to have declined comment to the latest reports, while Aramco did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Toward the end of February, Ship & Bunker reported that information from the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) showed that Arkas Petrol had replaced Petrol Ofisi as Istanbul's top supplier by volume, with 677,001 metric tonnes (mt) sold in 2015.
