Petroplus Holdings AG was

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

's largest independent

oil refiner An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, liquefie ...

by capacity. When the now defunct company was first formed in 1993, it was known as Petroplus International N.V., and was based in the Netherlands. In August 1998, it was listed on the

Amsterdam Stock Exchange Euronext Amsterdam is a stock exchange based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Formerly known as the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, it merged on 22 September 2000 with the Brussels Stock Exchange and the Paris Stock Exchange to form Euronext. The r ...

. In April 2005, it was delisted from the

Euronext Amsterdam Euronext Amsterdam is a stock exchange based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Formerly known as the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, it merged on 22 September 2000 with the Brussels Stock Exchange and the Paris Stock Exchange to form Euronext. The reg ...

stock exchange when the company was acquired by a holding company. In November 2006, the company went public on the

Swiss Stock Exchange SIX Swiss Exchange (formerly SWX Swiss Exchange), based in Zurich, is Switzerland's principal stock exchange (the other being Berne eXchange). SIX Swiss Exchange also trades other securities such as Swiss government bonds and derivatives such as ...

Acquisitions

In 1997, it acquired the Antwerp N.V. Refinery from the

Daewoo Group Daewoo ( ; Hangul: , Hanja: , ; literally "great universe" and a portmanteau of "dae" meaning great, and the given name of founder and chairman Kim Woo-choong) also known as the Daewoo Group, was a major South Korean chaebol (type of conglomerat ...

. In May 2000, it bought the Cressier Refinery, in Cressier, Switzerland from Shell Switzerland. In December 2000, it bought the

Teesside Refinery The Teesside Refinery was an oil refinery and chemical plant situated just south of Seaton Carew on the River Tees in County Durham. In 2000, it was bought by Petroplus from ICI and Phillips Petroleum Company. Refining was suspended in 200 ...

Port Clarence Port Clarence is a small village now within the borough of Stockton-on-Tees and ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is situated on the north bank of the River Tees, and hosts the northern end of the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge. ...

from

Phillips Petroleum Company Phillips Petroleum Company was an American oil company incorporated in 1917 that expanded into petroleum refining, marketing and transportation, natural gas gathering and the chemicals sectors. It was Phillips Petroleum that first found oil in the ...

. In May 2006, it bought the BRC Antwerp Refinery for $511m from Sovereign Holding Ltd (

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

). In March 2007, it bought the Ingolstadt Refinery from

ExxonMobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...

for $425m. In June 2007, it bought the

Coryton Refinery Coryton Refinery was an oil refinery in Essex, England, on the estuary of the River Thames from central London, between Shell Haven Creek and Hole Haven Creek, which separates Canvey Island from the mainland. It was a part of the Port of Lond ...

near

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

from BP for $1.4bn. In April 2008, it bought the Petit Couronne Refinery and Reichstett Refinery, located in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

from Shell for $785m.

Financial problems

In December 2011 a $1bn credit line to the company was frozen by its bank lenders. The company was planning to shut down some refineries if negotiations to restore the credit failed. The chief executive said they would do all they could to avoid bankruptcy. On 24 January 2012, Petroplus announced that they were filing for insolvency after it defaulted on $1.75 billion of senior notes and convertible bonds.

Former refineries

*Antwerp N.V. Refinery (Belgium) sold to VTTI and renamed Antwerp Terminal & Processing Company (ATPC) *BRC Antwerp Refinery (Belgium) sold to Gunvor *

(UK) closed *Cressier Refinery (Switzerland) sold to

Varo Energy VARO Energy (VARO) is a leading-integrated energy company headquartered in Zug, Switzerland. It operates in integrated energy value chains (including manufacturing, storage and distribution, marketing and trading), with businesses in convention ...

*Ingolstadt Refinery (Germany) sold to Gunvor *Petit Couronne Refinery (France) closed *Reichstett Refinery (France) closed *

(UK) closed

References

External links

*
BP sells the Coryton RefineryFebruary 2007 Times articlePetroplus at Yahoo! Finance
{{Authority control Petroplus, Oil and gas companies of Switzerland