BP Fulfils European Commission Undertaking With Sale Of ARG Shareholdings To BASF And Sasol
01-Oct-2002
BP announced today that it has sold two of its shareholdings in the ethylene pipeline company, Aethylen Rohrleitungs Gesellschaft mbH & Co. KG (ARG). The shareholdings have been sold in separate transactions to BASF Aktiengesellschaft and Sasol Germany GmbH.
Financial details of the transactions, which were completed today, are not being disclosed.
The sale of two of the three shareholdings in ARG held by BP and Veba Oel was one of the conditions attached to the European Commission's clearance of BP's acquisition of Veba Oel. The sales of the shareholdings have been approved by the other ARG shareholders and the European Commission.
BASF operates steamcrackers at its Verbund sites in Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Antwerp, Belgium, with a total ethylene capacity of 1.4 million tonnes a year. Both BASF sites are integrated into the Northwest European ethylene pipeline grid where the ARG forms the integral part. The acquisition offers BASF the opportunity to further optimize operations across Europe. Ethylene is one of the core starting materials within BASF to manufacture a wide range of higher-value chemicals, solvents, dispersions and polymers. BASF today is also a seller of ethylene to external markets.
Sasol Germany is a chemical company with five production sites located in Brunsbuettel, Herne, Marl, Moers, and Witten. Two of them are linked to the ARG system. Ethylene is an important feedstock for Sasol Germany. It is used for the production of fatty alcohols, ethylene oxides, ethanol, and inorganic specialities like high purity aluminas. The acquisition strengthens the ethylene supply basis for Sasol Germany.
ARG was founded in 1969 by BP, Hüls, Erdölchemie, Bayer, DSM and Scholven-Chemie. The 495 km ARG pipeline transports ethylene between producers and consumers at petrochemical sites in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. It is an important facility for the European petrochemical industry, linking directly or indirectly almost half the ethylene production capacity in Europe and 90 per cent of the capacity in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.
The ARG shareholders are now: Westgas GmbH & Co KG; Bayer AG; DSM Hydrocarbons B.V.; Sasol Germany GmbH; BASF AG; and BP (in the name of Veba Oel Refining & Petrochemicals). BP will thus continue to hold one of the six shareholdings in ARG.
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