Equinor Sells Danish Refinery

---

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Norway's oil and gas major Equinor (NYSE:EQNR) (Stavanger) continues to consolidate its refining operations by announcing the sale of its Danish refinery, Kalundborg, to Geneva-based Klesch Group for an undisclosed sum.

Kalundborg, which began operations in 1961, can process 107,000 barrels a day of crude oil and condensate for gasoline, diesel, propane and heating oil. Annual production capacity is up to 5.5 million tonnes of oil products. Acquired by Equinor in 1986, the company significantly increased capacity at the refinery in 1995. Approximately 75% of the total production is exported. Petroleum coke, which is used to make anodes for the aluminum industry, is also produced here.

The deal, if approved by Danish authorities, covers the Equinor Refining Denmark A/S (ERD) company consisting of the Kalundborg refinery and terminal in the northwest of Zealand, the Hedehusene terminal near Copenhagen as well as associated infrastructure and industrial property. Klesch said it plans to retain all of the staff.

"This transaction supports Equinor's strategy to focus its portfolio around core areas," explained Irene Rummelhoff, Equinor's executive vice president for marketing, midstream and processing. "Equinor will concentrate its refining position around Mongstad, Norway, where the company can leverage its integrated industrial cluster, expand the portfolio of low-carbon energy products provided and contribute to Equinor's efforts in the energy transition. Over the years, Kalundborg has provided solid results and strong efforts have been made to maintain safe and reliable operations, also with the recent challenges caused by the pandemic."

A. Gary Klesch, chairman of the Klesch Group, commented: "The refinery is first class and so are its people. It was challenging during the COVID pandemic to undertake this acquisition, but through the hard work of both my team and Equinor's team, we were able to get there in the end. Given the proximity of our refinery in Germany, I'm sure there will be lots of opportunities for both refineries to work together; especially when it comes to deploying our decarbonisation strategy".

Mongstad, Norway's largest refinery and port, is tightly integrated into Equinor's oil and gas business and is key to the company's development of new value chains, such as hydrogen, biofuel and ammonia. The giant industrial site is home to an oil refinery, an NGL processing plant (Vestprosess), a crude oil terminal, a cogeneration plant and the world's largest technology center for CO2 capture from flue gas. In terms of tonnage, the harbour at Mongstad is also Norway's largest and one of the largest oil and product harbours in Europe, with around 1,500 ships calling yearly. Industrial Info is tracking a number of active projects at the refinery.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn.