Shell Renews Efforts to Sell Stake in Rosneft-Held German Refinery

Shell has restarted a process to sell its minority 37.5% stake in the Schwedt refinery in Germany, whose majority shareholder is now-sanctioned Russian state oil giant Rosneft, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing sources with knowledge of the matter.

Shell has opened a data room this month and is seeking offers for its stake in the refinery by the end of January, according to some of Reuters’ sources.

The Schwedt refinery, the fourth-largest refinery in Germany, used to process Russian oil before Germany cut off supplies from Russia. The Schwedt refinery supplies 90% of the fuel needs of Germany’s capital city Berlin and currently operates with non-Russian crude delivered either from Kazakhstan via pipeline or tankers via Gdansk in Poland.

Shell holds a minority 37.5% interest in the PCK Schwedt refinery while Rosneft owns a majority 54.17% stake.

Rosneft’s stake has been under trusteeship by the German government since Germany seized the local units of Rosneft and Gazprom, including three oil refineries, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Shell is now attempting again to exit the legal and liability nightmare of co-owning an oil asset with Rosneft under German control.

Last year, Shell was ready to sell its stake in the Schwedt refinery to UK-based Prax Group, but in December 2024 the companies called off their previous initial agreement.

After careful consideration, both parties have taken the decision not to proceed with the transaction, Shell and Prax said in December last year.

The Schwedt refinery won in October an exemption from the U.S. under a general license. The waiver allowed limited operations of Rosneft’s German subsidiaries. The authorization applies to Rosneft Deutschland and RN Refining & Marketing, both under German federal trusteeship since 2022, when Berlin assumed control to maintain refinery continuity and prevent fuel shortages. The license allows maintenance, payments, and service activities necessary to keep assets functioning under non-Russian management.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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