(Bloomberg) -- Shell Plc’s previously agreed sale of its stake in the Schwedt refinery, a plant that supplies much of eastern Germany with fuel, has fallen through.
Shell still intends to divest its 37.5% stake in the refinery north of Berlin and there is no schedule for the sale, according to a person familiar with the process who was not allowed to speak publicly. The facility has been caught in Europe’s standoff with Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
“Both parties have taken the decision not to proceed with the transaction,” Shell said in an emailed statement. The refinery is expected to continue operating normally, it said.
Shareholdings in the refinery were left in limbo when Germany seized it from Russian majority owner Rosneft PJSC, as sanctions threatened its main supply source following Moscow’s attack on Ukraine. Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund is bidding for Rosneft’s businesses in Germany, other people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg last month.
Prax Group had said as recently as late November that it was still working on the deal. Shell declined to comment on why the transaction fell apart.
Italy’s Eni SpA has also been evaluating what to do with a its minority stake in the plant near the Polish border.
The refinery stopped processing piped oil from Russia as a result of the invasion, depriving it of the crude upon which it relied on for decades. That forced the plant to cut processing rates and turn to supplies from international markets.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.