INGOLSTADT, Germany, June 14, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --More than 200 Petroplus Bavaria employees and members of management welcomed Gunvor Group CEO Torbjorn Tornqvist to the Ingolstadt plant last week. The visit was the first by Tornqvist since Gunvor announced the acquisition of the refinery's assets, which will keep open the plant saving hundreds of jobs.
"I am pleased to be here today to share with you our plans for the future," Tornqvist said to the crowd, which included Petroplus employees from the plant's offices in Nuremberg and Regensburg who joined via telephone. "I am convinced that refineries in Germany and Europe have a future."
Tornqvist praised the skills of the Petroplus workforce as an asset, adding that Gunvor is familiar with and trades the crude oils processed by the Ingolstadt refinery. This will enable greater efficiency for the plant and help further Gunvor's growth strategy, which takes advantage of its integrated business model.
As one of the world's largest independent commodities trader, Gunvor is a market leader in trade, transportation, storage and optimization of crude oil, petroleum products and other energy products. The Ingolstadt refinery is one of the best performing European refineries, with a strong regional footprint in one of Germany's most prosperous regions, Bavaria. It has a processing capacity of approximately 100,000 barrels per day.
The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory clearance from competition authorities. The closing of the transaction is expected in the third quarter of 2012, with the support from the local and German state authorities. The Ingolstadt refinery operations closed in early February but have since restarted.
Gunvor Group is one of the world's largest independent commodity trading companies by turnover, providing integrated trading products and logistics services for participants in the worldwide oil and energy markets. Headquartered in Cyprus, the company's main trading offices are in Geneva and Singapore with a network of representative offices around the globe. Follow Gunvor on Twitter: @Gunvor.
SOURCE Gunvor Group
