NeWS – eURoPe 8 Petrol Group opens new fuel stations Petrol Group d.d. has opened six new petrol stations in the Balkans to strengthen its foothold in the region operating now a fuel network of 455 outlets. The Slovenian company also plans to offer other sources of energy at its retail network. Petrol, Slovenia’s biggest public company by revenue last year, has been expanding its retail network in the Balkans as the region moves closer to the European Union to benefit from expanded business and trade. Last December the company sold 33 million euros (US $ 43 million) of corporate bonds to finance investment and adjust its debt. Resignations after turcas sells stake Turcas Petrol AS, a Turkish fuel retailer owned by Aksoy Holding AS, has sold its 25 percent stake in Socar & Turcas Enerji to the State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan, known as Socar. Turcas also bought 18.5 percent of Socar & Turcas Rafineri AS from Socar & Turcas Enerji, as part of a plan to shift its business from petrochemicals to fuel retailing and refining. Erdal Aksoy and Saffet Batu Aksoy resigned from the executive board of Petkim Petrokimya Holding AS, Turkey’s biggest chemicals maker controlled by Socar & Turcas Enerji AS, Petkim said in a statement to the Istanbul Stock Exchange. oPW & FuelQuest OPW Fueling Components EMEA and FuelQuest Inc announce a global partnership agreement. Fuel operators are now able to enjoy the benefits of proactive tank monitoring integrated with fuel management automation software and services to reduce fuel costs, lower working capital requirements, identify incidences of theft, and improve environmental compliance. NIS to spend US $ 158 million in Serbia Naftna Industrija Srbije AD, a Serbian oil company controlled by OAO Gazprom Neft, plans to spend as much as 13 billion dinars bP buys into negative carbon fuel BP has invested in yet another biofuels startup. CoolPlanet BioFuels, a startup out of Camarillo, Calif., has developed so-called negative carbon fuels that look (chemically) like crude oil, but does not contain carbon. BP paid US $ 98.3 million last year to buy the biofuel unit of Verenium and has invested in Synthetic Genomics, among others. BP didn’t disclose the amount of this latest GFI Group & Petrol energetika agreement GFI Market Data, a division of GFI Group Inc., announced that it has entered into an agreement with Petrol Energetika, a leading Slovenian energy company and the principal supplier of oil and other energy products to the Slovenian market. Petrol Energetika will use GFI market data to gain an insight into markets with limited liquidity as well as Gazprom pursues oMv’s Croatian and bosnian assets OAO Gazprom Neft from Russia is interested in buying OMV AG’s filling stations in Bosnia- Herzegovina and Croatia. “We will pursue projects if they create added value”, Deputy Chief Executive Officer Vadim Yakovlev said in St. Petersburg. Gazprom Neft has the “financial capacity” for acquisitions, he said. OMV, announced recently that it plans to sell LAteSt NeWS, eveNtS, JobS oNLINe – WWW.PetRoLPLAzA.CoM (US $ 158 million) to renovate as many as 250 of its gas stations in the country, the company’s chief executive officer said. Work to overhaul the stations should be complete by 2015. The company operates a network of more than 400 filling stations and are looking at the profitability of the remaining un-renovated stations and could either lease them out or sell them. NIS is 56.15 percent owned by Gazprom Neft and the Serbian government has a 29.87 percent stake. investment, which was part of a series C funding round led by Shea Ventures. However, CoolPlanet did say the financing round was wrapped up ahead of schedule so it could accelerate the development of its modular fuel production plants. The company says it expects to deploy hundreds of “relatively low-cost modular plants” around the U.S. in the next few years. those that are in the process of deregulating or have done so recently. Shai Popat, Head of European Sales at GFI Market Data said: “We will strive to provide them with the best quality data in energy and the commodities. Our data derives from EnergyMatch ® Europe, our world-class electronic trading platform for energy and commodities”. its Balkan subsidiaries as it seeks to dispose of 1 billion euros of less profitable assets. The Croatian unit has 63 filling stations and a market share of about 13 percent, while in Bosnia, OMV has 28 filling stations and an 8 percent share. The sale also attracted interest from OAO Zarubezhneft, a Russian oil-pipeline operator, which submitted an offer last month.
LAteSt NeWS, eveNtS, JobS oNLINe – WWW.PetRoLPLAzA.CoM NeWS – MIDDLe eASt, AFRICA & ASIA 9