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PETROPLUS

Petroplus subsidiaries file for insolvency

Petroplus, Europe's largest independent oil refiner said late on Wednesday its German susidiaries are to file for insolvency following its decision two days earlier to file for bankruptcy.

Published: 26 January 2012 08:44 CET

Petroplus said in a statement “its subsidiaries in Germany, Marimpex Mineraloel-Handelsgesellschaft mbH, Petroplus Deutschland GmbH, Petroplus Bayern GmbH, Petroplus Tankstorage Holding Deutschland GmbH and Petroplus Raffinerie Ingolstadt GmbH, which owns the Ingolstadt refinery, filed for insolvency proceedings.”

The Swiss-based oil refiner also announced that its subsidiaries in France, “Petroplus Holdings France SAS, Petroplus Marketing France SAS, Petroplus Raffinage Reichstett SAS and Petroplus Raffinage Petit-Couronne SAS, which owns the Petit Couronne refinery,” have filed for judicial assistance.

Credit ratings agency Standard and Poor’s on Wednesday downgraded the company’s long-term debt rating by two notches to D or “default” classification citing its inability to pay off long-term debts.

The ratings of Petroplus Europe’s largest independent refiner dropped from its previous “CC”, the day after it announced it was filing for bankruptcy due to its failure to reach agreement with its banks.

Petroplus, with $1.75 billion in outstanding debt, had been negotiating for weeks with lenders to reopen credit lines needed to maintain operations, said last week it would sell its Petit Couronne refinery in France.

Petroplus also said it was looking for strategic alternatives including the sale of its Cressier (Switzerland) and Antwerp (Belgium) refineries.

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PETROPLUS

Libyan lifeline for bankrupt French oil plant

Bankruptcy administrators for the Petroplus oil refinery in Normandy have accepted bids from two firms to rescue the plant and have passed them on to a court, union sources said this week.

Published: 3 April 2013 08:38 CEST
Libyan lifeline for bankrupt French oil plant
Workers outside the Petroplus oil plant during a day of action last month. Photo: Charly Triballeau/AFP

The bids from Panama-registered NetOil and Libya's Murzuq Oil are expected to be considered in the coming days, ahead of an April 16th deadline.

Unions representing the plant's 470 workers hailed the decision.

"This is very good news," said Jean-Luc Broute of the CGT union following a meeting of the plant's works council.

Two other bids, from Hong Kong-based Oceanmed Seasky System Limited and GTSA of Luxembourg, were rejected.

Opened in 1929, the refinery has struggled in recent years, with parent company Petroplus filing for bankruptcy in January 2012 and the plant placed under insolvency administration in October.

The fate of the plant has become a symbol of France's struggle to keep industrial sites running in the face of a stagnant economy and stiff global competition.

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