Hellenic Petroleum S.A. is one of the largest oil companies in
Southeast Europe
Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical subregion of Europe, consisting primarily of the Balkans. Sovereign states and territories that are included in the region are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia (al ...
and with its roots dating to 1958 with the establishment of the first oil refinery in Greece (Aspropyrgos).
It adopted its current name in 1998, changing from the Public Petroleum Corporation S.A. ( el, DEP), as the result of a corporate reorganization. It is a consortium of 6 subsidiaries and a number of additional companies of which it has varying degrees of management control.
Activities
Refineries and gas stations
Hellenic Petroleum operates three refineries in Greece, in
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
,
Elefsina
Elefsina ( el, Ελευσίνα ''Elefsina''), or Eleusis (; Ancient Greek: ''Eleusis'') is a suburban city and municipality in the West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is situated about northwest from the centre of Athens and is part of i ...
and
Aspropyrgos, which account for 57% of the refining capacity of the country (the remaining 43% belongs to
Motor Oil Hellas
Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries S.A. ( el, Μότορ Όιλ (Ελλάς) Διυλιστήρια Κορίνθου Α.Ε.) is a petroleum industry based in Greece focusing on oil refining and trading. It is a leading force in its sector in S ...
). Also owns
OKTA
In meteorology, an okta is a unit of measurement used to describe the amount of cloud cover at any given location such as a weather station. Sky conditions are estimated in terms of how many eighths of the sky are covered in cloud, ranging from ...
facilities in
Skopje
Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre.
The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...
,
Republic of North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...
for transportation and marketing of petroleum products. Crude oil for the refineries is supplied from
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
,
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
,
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
and
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. The company also operates over 1700 gas stations in Greece under the
BP and EKO brands, and about 300 gas stations in Serbia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Montenegro and the Republic of North Macedonia. It also has a network which sells
LPG,
jet fuel
Jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF, also abbreviated avtur) is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by gas-turbine engines. It is colorless to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for commercial a ...
, naval fuels and
lubricants
A lubricant (sometimes shortened to lube) is a substance that helps to reduce friction between surfaces in mutual contact, which ultimately reduces the heat generated when the surfaces move. It may also have the function of transmitting forces, t ...
.
Petrochemicals
Being the most important company that produces
petrochemicals
Petrochemicals (sometimes abbreviated as petchems) are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable sou ...
in Greece, Hellenic Petroleum has a very significant (over 50% in most cases) share of the market. Their basic products are plastics,
PVC and
polypropylene
Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain-growth polymerization from the monomer propylene.
Polypropylene
belongs to the group of polyolefins and ...
, aliphatic solvents and inorganic chemicals, such as
chlorine
Chlorine is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate betwee ...
and
sodium hydroxide
Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye and caustic soda, is an inorganic compound with the formula NaOH. It is a white solid ionic compound consisting of sodium cations and hydroxide anions .
Sodium hydroxide is a highly caustic base and alkali ...
. The petrochemicals department is a part of the Thessaloniki refinery.
Electricity
Hellenic Petroleum operates a 390 MW
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
power station in Thessaloniki. It opened in 2005 and it is operated through a subsidiary, T-Power. The fixed
investment
Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort.
In finance, the purpose of investing i ...
for this plant amounted to 250 million Euros.
Oil exploration
The Group has established partnerships with leading companies in the sector, been awarded exploration and production rights for hydrocarbons in a portfolio of areas in Western Greece, both offshore and onshore in various development steps.
Other
Hellenic Petroleum subsidiaries include the engineering company Asprofos and the polypropylene film production company, DIAXON, whose factory is situated in the industrial area of
Komotini
Komotini ( el, Κομοτηνή, tr, Gümülcine, bg, Комотини) is a city in the region of East Macedonia and Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Rhodope. It was the administrative centre of the Rhodope-Evros super-pr ...
. The company also controls two shipping companies and has 35% shares in
DEPA
Public Gas Corporation of Greece A.E. (DEPA; el, Δημόσια Επιχείρηση Αερίου (ΔΕΠΑ) Α.Ε.) commonly known for its Greek abbreviation DEPA ( el, ΔΕΠΑ, translit=DEPA) is the natural gas supply company of Greece. The r ...
, the Greek natural gas company, and VPI, which produces
PET
A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive appearances, intelligence, ...
resin. Since 2002 Hellenic petroleum owns 54.53% of shares in
Jugopetrol AD
Jugopetrol AD Podgorica ( MNSEJGPK is the largest petroleum company in Montenegro.
History
The company was established in Kotor on 12 April 1947 at the early beginnings of oil operations in Yugoslavia. The company started its first oil exploratio ...
Ownership
The company is transitioning from a government-owned enterprise to a privately held enterprise. 21.8% of its shares are available to the public through a float on the
Athens Stock Exchange, with the Greek government retaining 35.5% and Paneuropean Oil and Industrial Holdings S.A. (a
Latsis family
Yiannis Latsis (1910–2003), also known as John Spyridon Latsis, was a Greek shipping multi-billionaire tycoon notable for his great wealth, influential friends, and charitable activities.
The year of his death (2003), ''Forbes'' magazine rank ...
holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
) owning the remaining 45.5% of outstanding shares.
The chairman of the
board of directors
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
is Mr. Yannis Papathanasiou and the Chief Executive Officer of the company is Mr. Andreas Shiamishis.
See also
*
Energy in Greece
In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of hea ...
*
OKTA
In meteorology, an okta is a unit of measurement used to describe the amount of cloud cover at any given location such as a weather station. Sky conditions are estimated in terms of how many eighths of the sky are covered in cloud, ranging from ...
*
Aspropyrgos Refinery
The Aspropyrgos Refinery is an oil refining complex located near Aspropyrgos, a suburb of Athens, in Greece. It is operated by Hellenic Petroleum. The refinery has a nominal annual refining capacity of 7.5 million tons ().
Equipment
The Cra ...
References
External links
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{{Authority control
Oil and gas companies of Greece
Electric power companies of Greece
Companies listed on the Athens Exchange
Privatization in Greece
Companies based in Athens
Energy companies established in 1958
Non-renewable resource companies established in 1958
Greek brands
Greek companies established in 1958