Algerian state firm Sonatrach’s 2018 purchase of ExxonMobil’s 10mn t/y (200,000 b/d) Augusta refinery in Sicily was supposed to help quench Algeria’s thirst for gasoline and mark its foray into the overseas downstream market (MEES, 11 May 2018).
But less than two years after the December 2018 completion of the $1bn deal the Italian refinery is at the center of a high-profile corruption scandal. And Energy Minister Abdelmadjid Attar now says Augusta could be sold unless Sonatrach “finds some use” for it. The agreement also included three oil terminals at Naples, Palermo and Augusta with total gasoline and diesel storage capacity of 925,000 barrels. (CONTINUED - 856 WORDS)
