Rosneft Raising Exposure to German Refining Market

Russia's largest oil producer and its shareholder BP have completed dissolution of Ruhr Oel, their refining joint venture in Germany, Rosneft said on Thursday. Rosneft said with the restructuring it had embarked on developing its own business in Germany and had created a new subsidiary called Rosneft Deutschland. The deal will allow Rosneft to gain control over more than 12% of Germany's oil refining market with annual refining capacity of 12.5 million tons. Rosneft will also become a direct shareholder in the Bayernoil refinery, increasing its stake in it to 25% from 12.5%. It will also raise its stake in the MiRO refinery in southwest of Germany to 24% from 12% and in the PCK refinery to 54.17% from 35.42%. For its part, BP will take 100% control of the Gelsenkirchen refinery and DHC Solvent Chemie, a solvent production facility.