BP completes $296 million sale of five African businesses to Puma

Chemical News: BP completes $296 million sale of five African businesses to Puma

https://www.chemnet.com Sep 09,2011 Platts
BP Thursday said Trafigura Group oil products marketing unit Puma Energy has paid $296 million for its fuels marketing businesses in Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania.

The sale of the assets, which was first announced by BP in May 2010, follows a strategic review of the company's southern African refining and marketing businesses, and doesn't include its downstream operations in Mozambique and South Africa.

BP Chief Executive for Refining and Marketing Iain Conn said Puma Energy will be able to build on the "good assets and develop them further."

"We are committed to developing and pursuing the significant growth potential of our businesses in South Africa and Mozambique," he added.

The five businesses, in which BP held 100% both in Botswana and Namibia, 75% in Zambia, 50% in Malawi and 50% in Tanzania, supply commercial fuels, aviation fuel, lubricants and have a total of 190 retail stations across the five countries.

They also own and operate storage depots and, in Namibia, an import terminal, and in total employ some 402 staff.

BP, Europe's second-largest oil company by market value, has agreed to raise $30 billion by the end of 2011 to help pay for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill last April.

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