Shell aware of responsibility for German Schwedt refinery-German minister

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Shell, a minority shareholder in the German PCK Schwedt refinery operated and majority-owned by Russia’s Rosneft, will take on more responsibility for the site in case of supply disruptions, a local German minister said.

“An embargo or supply stop of Russian oil would pose major challenges to the PCK Schwedt refinery,” Joerg Steinbach, Economy Minister of the German state of Brandenburg, where the site is located, told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

“I therefore welcome the fact that Shell has declared that it is aware of its responsibility for the Schwedt site with its employees and the supply of the region in particular.”

Russia’s Rosneft holds 54.17% in the refinery, while Shell still owns 37.5% after Germany put under review a planned purchase of that stake by Rosneft. Italy’s ENI holds 8.33%.

Germany is preparing for a change of control at the refinery in Schwedt, which accounts for all of Germany’s remaining Russian oil imports, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said last week.

Germany has set out plans to become independent of Russian oil, which would make a European Union oil embargo manageable for Europe’s biggest economy.

“We have taken note of the statements of the Brandenburg Minister of Economics that Shell will support PCK in Schwedt even at the cost of economic losses in order to maintain supplies to the region,” a spokesperson for Shell in Germany said in an e-mailed statement.

“It is a fact that intensive talks are currently being held between business representatives, the federal government and the state,” it said, without providing further details.

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz, Editing by Louise Heavens)