Mercuria Energy to raise stake in Albania oil refiner

GENEVA, Sep 8 – Switzerland-based commodity trading company, Mercuria Energy Group Ltd., expects to raise its minority stake in the Albanian oil refining company, ARMO, Mercuria’s chief executive said last week.
“I think it’s very likely we will raise our stake to 25%,” President and CEO, Marco Dunand, told Dow Jones Newswires during an interview.
“That will happen, probably in the next couple of months,” he said.
In June, a consortium comprising Mercuria, Refinery Associates of Texas and Swiss-registered Anika Enterprises, purchased an 85% stake in ARMO for EUR125 million.
That contract was signed and approved by the Tirana government earlier this month and is also expected to be approved by the parliament.
Currently, Mercuria holds 10% of the consortium’s stake, Refinery Associates holds 20% and Anika holds 70%. However, there is no indication where Mercuria will get its additional shares from.
Mercuria’s projected 2008 turnover is $42 billion, compared with $33.8 billion in 2007, a company spokesman said Thursday.