Shell to sell stake in German PCK Schwedt refinery to British Prax Group

Shell has agreed to sell its 37.5% stake in the PCK Schwedt refinery, one of Germany's largest crude processing sites, to London-based independent energy company Prax Group.  

PCK Schwedt, owned primarily by Russian energy company Rosneft, is responsible for supplying about 90% of Berlin's fuel. PCK is located near the Polish border and is also the main gasoline supplier for the entire Berlin-Brandenburg region.

Germany took over the refinery in 2022 following the Russia-Ukraine conflict, stripping Rosneft of control but remaining the legal owner of its shares. The German government has since struggled to find ways to supply oil to PCK, which is operating at just 60% capacity due to the EU embargo on Russian oil. Poland said it would help supply the refinery, but only if Rosneft ceased to be a shareholder entirely.

Shell said it had agreed to sell its stake in PCK as part of a divestment plan to focus on developing high-quality integrated sites such as the Rheinland Energy & Chemicals campus.

Meanwhile, Prax Group said the deal was strategically aligned with other recently completed acquisitions, giving the company a significant presence in the German market and making it a major player in the European refining industry.

In December last year, Prax acquired Hamburg-based gasoline retailer OIL! Tankstellen, which has a network of more than 340 filling stations across Germany, Austria, Denmark and Switzerland.

The company also acquired oil producer Hurricane Energy for $301 million in March 2023 and took a minority stake in a refinery joint venture in South Africa.