Blockchain to Track Sustainable Biofuel
Japanese shipping company NYK, global mining company BHP, green biofuel company GoodFuels and the developer of blockchain applications for the maritime industry Blockchain Labs for Open Collaboration (BLOC) bunkered biofuel in the tanks a BHP vessel in Netherlands.The Netherlands based GoodFuels Marine, a supplier of sustainable low carbon marine fuels, has annouced the successful delivery of sustainable biofuels to the BHP-chartered, NYK-owned bulk carrier Frontier Sky, with CO2 savings verified with BLOC’s blockchain fuels assurance platform.
Cepsa Float Fail Could Jeopardize Other Energy Listings
The shelving of Spanish energy company Cepsa's initial public offering (IPO) may damage prospects for a string of oil-related companies planning to go public.Returning Cepsa to the Madrid stock exchange this week in a flotation valuing the firm at up to 8 billion euros ($9.3 billion) had been expected to test investor appetite for energy listings amid resurgent oil prices.But the company, owned by Abu Dhabi's Mubadala, postponed the IPO on Monday after a tough book-building process."We don't think there will be new energy IPOs for now…
Vivo Energy IPO Launches with 2 bln Pound Valuation
Largest Africa-focused IPO since 2005; Vivo to join FTSE 250 index. Vivo Energy PLC launched on the London Stock Exchange on Friday with a valuation of nearly 2 billion pounds ($2.7 billion), the largest London IPO so far this year and the largest Africa-focused IPO in more than a decade. The initial offer price for the just under 30 percent of the company floated was set at 165 pence per share and the shares advanced to 169.50 pence in conditional trading. The company is the downstream fuels joint venture of energy trading house Vitol and Helios Investment Partners which are cutting their stakes.
Varo Energy Cancels Plans for IPO on Euronext
Varo Energy BV said on Tuesday it had decided not to proceed with plans for a flotation on the Euronext stock exchange in Amsterdam, citing poor market conditions. In a statement, the company said there was "considerable institutional investor interest" in an offering, but shareholders Carlyle Group, Reggeborgh and Vitol had decided not to proceed. Varo produces and supplies oil products for cooking, the plastics industry, transport, and bitumen for road construction in north-west Europe. Reporting by Toby Sterling
Vitol's 2017 Traded Oil Volumes Edged Lower
Traded oil volumes edge lower, remain above 7 mln b/d. The world's largest oil trader Vitol said on Monday that its traded crude and products volumes fell slightly in 2017 as it focused on its mid and downstream acquisitions and added assets in the United States by acquiring Noble Group's oil business. The total volume was 349 million tonnes, down slightly from 351 million tonnes the previous year, but staying above the 7 million barrel per day (bpd) level hit for the first time in 2016. The trader…
Hardy Takes Over as Vitol CEO
Ian Taylor, who helped build Vitol into the world's biggest oil trader, will step down as chief executive and continue as chairman, the company said on Friday, naming a long-time ally and insider, Russell Hardy, as the new group CEO. Taylor said two years ago he was battling cancer although he continued to travel the world, chasing deals from Africa to the United States and Australia while also working as chairman of the board of trustees for London's Royal Opera House. Hardy, who started his career at BP and traded fuel oil…
Shell, Varo End Germany Refinery Sale Negotiations
Royal Dutch Shell and Varo Energy have ended talks on Varo's potential acquisition of Shell's 37.5 percent stake in the 220,000 barrels per day PCK refinery in Schwedt, Germany, Varo said. The two companies announced last December that they had entered advanced talks on the stake sale, but the negotiations have been "discontinued", a spokeswoman for Varo told Reuters. The spokeswoman would not provide details about why the talks had ended. Varo Energy, a joint venture between the world's biggest oil trader Vitol and private equity firm Carlyle Group…
Vitol to Acquire Rotterdam Splitter from Koch
Commodities trader Vitol has agreed to buy an 85,000 barrel per day (bpd) condensate splitter in the Netherlands from Koch Supply and Trading, a subsidiary of U.S. conglomerate Koch Industries, Vitol said in a statement on Tuesday. The world's largest oil trader has been expanding in the downstream and retail sectors over the last few years as it seeks outlets for its growing traded volumes. Such assets also allow the trader to access new markets and to forge longer-term supply deals as opposed to ad hoc ones, the traditional base of its business.
Shell, Varo Mull German Refinery Stake Sale
Royal Dutch Shell and Varo Energy are in advanced talks on the sale of Shell's 37.5 percent stake in the 220,000 barrels per day refinery in Schwedt, Germany, they said on Thursday. The companies did not disclose the value of the deal. Varo Energy, a joint venture between the world's biggest oil trader Vitol and private equity firm Carlyle Group, owns a refinery in Cressier in Switzerland and the Bayernoil refinery in Germany. Shell is in the midst of a $30 billion asset disposal programme following February's $54 billion acquisition of BG Group. Reporting by Ron Bousso
Vitol-Carlyle to Buy Inter Oil BV
Varo Energy, a joint venture between the world's top oil trader Vitol and private equity firm Carlyle Group, says it has signed an agreement to acquire 100 percent of the shares in Inter Oil B.V., the holding company of retail and wholesale businesses operating under the brand names "Brand Oil" and "Amigo" in the Netherlands. Together with its existing retail service station network, which VARO operates under the brand "Argos", the company will operate nearly 150 fuel service stations in the Netherlands and Germany.
Oando Sheds 60 pct of Downstream to Vitol
Nigeria's Oando has agreed to sell a 60 percent stake in its downstream business to Vitol and Helios Investment Partners for $276 million, the energy company said on Tuesday. Oando, which is shifting away from being a marketer of refined petroleum products into an oil and gas explorer, completed the acquisition of ConocoPhillips's upstream oil and gas business in Nigeria last year. Its downstream business, with a market share of 12 percent in Nigeria, will be set up as an independent entity, but will retain the Oando brand, the company said in a statement. The consortium will acquire 51 percent of the voting rights.
Vitol, Carlyle's Varo Energy buy Total Swiss Diesel
Vitol and the Carlyle Group's joint-venture Varo Energy has bought French oil company Total's Swiss diesel and heating oil storage and distribution businesses, the company said on Thursday. "The purchased assets include tank storage facilities in Eclepens near Lausanne and Total's entire end customer distribution and sales network for domestic heating oil and diesel in Switzerland," the statement said. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Reporting by David Sheppard
