Uniper concludes Fujairah refinery sale tender

German firm Uniper has received bids in its tender to sell its Middle East marine fuels subsidiary, a condition of the German government's bailout, multiple trading sources told Argus.

The subsidiary, Uniper Energy, is a major supplier of very low-sulphur marine fuels at the Fujairah bunkering hub in the UAE. It operates a 67,000 b/d refinery in Fujairah that produces up to 5mn t/yr of very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO). The refinery processes low-sulphur crude grades from Chad and South Sudan.

Global bunker supplier Montfort, a major supplier of bunker-grade high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) in Fujairah, offered the highest bid, according to market sources, with estimates in the $60mn-80mn range.

Montfort's bid shows the firm wants to expand from being an HSFO supplier to a major VLSFO producer, the main bunker fuel sold in Fujairah.

Any deal will have to go through checks to satisfy the conditions set by the European Commission, which approved Germany's $36.6bn plan to recapitalise Uniper subject to future divestments.

"We know that Montfort's bid was the highest, but the deal has to go through a due diligence process yet," a trader with knowledge of the tender said.

Uniper Energy launched the refinery in 2015, supplying the Fujairah market and exporting cargoes to the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.

By Elshan Aliyev