Exxon Mobil Corp plans to sell part of its 50 percent stake in oil refiner TonenGeneral Sekiyu KK to the Japanese partner, Reuters reported late on Saturday, citing four officials with direct knowledge of the plan.
The sale may be worth as much as ￥300 billion (US$3.9 billion), according to the report. Exxon Mobil will retain a stake of about 20 percent in the Japanese refiner, Reuters said.
Exxon Mobil will also sell all of its 50 percent stake in Kyokuto Petroleum Industries Ltd, a refining venture with Mitsui & Co, and the Japanese retail business to TonenGeneral, the Nikkei Shimbun said yesterday, citing no one.
Kosuke Kai, a spokesman for Exxon Mobil and TonenGeneral in Tokyo, said by telephone yesterday that he could not comment on the reports. TonenGeneral is not the source of the media reports and will communicate any further information to the Tokyo Stock Exchange and other stakeholders, the company said in a statement on the Exxon Mobil Web site on Saturday.
Exxon Mobil’s sale comes after Japan decided in 2010 to require that oil companies modernize facilities or reduce output. The government urged refiners to increase the proportion of gasoline and gas oil they produce from residue, a cheaper way to extract fuel.
Residue-processing facilities, such as coker units and residue fluid catalytic crackers that can produce gasoline and gasoil components from fuel oil, cost about ￥100 billion to build, according to Credit Suisse Group AG.
Leaving the refining and retail businesses in Japan would fit with Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson’s strategy to focus the Irving, Texas-based energy company on the higher-profit extraction operations.
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