Reuters
Dominican Rep. seals refinery stake buy from Shell
Wed Aug 6, 2008 9:09am EDT
SANTO DOMINGO, Aug 6 (Reuters) – The Dominican Republic government has concluded the buyout of Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research,Stock Buzz) 50 percent stake in a refinery for $110 million.
The purchase of the half share the government did not already own in the refinery, known by its Spanish language acronym as REFIDOMSA, was sealed in a brief signing ceremony in the offices of Finance Minister Vicente Bengoa.
The refinery has been co-owned by Shell and the Dominican Republic since it started operating in the mid-1970s.
By taking on full ownership the government was increasing its control over gasoline distribution in the domestic market and could take greater advantage of the Caribbean country’s deal with oil exporter Venezuela under the Petrocaribe initiative, Bengoa said.
Under Petrocaribe, Venezuela offers oil to Caribbean and Latin American countries with preferential financing terms.
Bengoa said the terms of the agreement with Shell gave the government 90 days, from Tuesday, to pay for the stake. (Reporting by Manuel Jimenez; Editing by Michael Christie, Dave Zimmerman)
Reuters
Dominican Rep. seals refinery stake buy from Shell
Wed Aug 6, 2008 9:09am EDT
SANTO DOMINGO, Aug 6 (Reuters) – The Dominican Republic government has concluded the buyout of Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research,Stock Buzz) 50 percent stake in a refinery for $110 million.
The purchase of the half share the government did not already own in the refinery, known by its Spanish language acronym as REFIDOMSA, was sealed in a brief signing ceremony in the offices of Finance Minister Vicente Bengoa.
The refinery has been co-owned by Shell and the Dominican Republic since it started operating in the mid-1970s.
By taking on full ownership the government was increasing its control over gasoline distribution in the domestic market and could take greater advantage of the Caribbean country’s deal with oil exporter Venezuela under the Petrocaribe initiative, Bengoa said.
Under Petrocaribe, Venezuela offers oil to Caribbean and Latin American countries with preferential financing terms.
Bengoa said the terms of the agreement with Shell gave the government 90 days, from Tuesday, to pay for the stake. (Reporting by Manuel Jimenez; Editing by Michael Christie, Dave Zimmerman)
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