Bloomberg.com
By Tracy Withers
May 12 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc., Europes biggest oil company, is seeking expressions of interest for most of its New Zealand downstream operations including fuel retailing and its stake in the nations only refinery.
Shell has appointed UBS AG to advise on the sale of the assets to a single buyer, Jackie Maitland, Shells Wellington- based communications manager, said in an interview today. A stake in civil contractor Fulton Hogan will be retained.
Shell said in February it was reviewing the assets, which include a 17 percent stake in New Zealand Refining Co. and 230 fuel outlets for possible sale. Shell is one of the nations biggest oil and gas explorers and operates New Zealands largest fields. None of the upstream exploration and production assets are under review.
The assets for sale encompass Shells involvement in chemicals, bitumen, commercial fuel, aviation, marine, retailing and distribution. The New Zealand Refining stake is worth NZ$277 million ($167 million) based on todays closing prices.
Maitland said UBS will produce an information memorandum and Shell expects to have expressions of interest by August.
Exxon Mobil Corp., the worlds biggest publicly traded oil company, may sell its 800 Australian fuel outlets for A$500 million ($379 million), the Australian Financial Review reported today, without saying where it got the information.
To contact the reporter on this story: Tracy Withers in Wellington at[email protected].
Last Updated: May 12, 2009 02:03 EDT
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