Hungary's MOL to Invest in Chemicals

Hungarian oil group MOL will invest in new chemical plants to cut its dependence on producing fuel for cars, while also buying more upstream assets and selling goods and services in its petrol stations, its head Zsolt Hernadi said. Central Eastern Europe's leading fuel retailer, with around 2,000 such stations and four refineries, aims to invest around $1.5 billion every five years until 2030 to expand chemicals, while retaining its integrated downstream focus, Reuters reported. MOL operates refineries in Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia and has exploration and production assets in the North Sea and countries including Pakistan, Iraq, and Russia. It plans to adjust its refineries to an increased share of non-motor fuel products in the next 15 years, MOL's chief executive and chairman Hernadi said. "Strategic chemical investments will probably be the biggest engines," Hernadi said, adding that MOL already had plans on how to spend two-thirds of the $1.5 billion planned investments in chemicals in the next five years.