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UPDATE 1-Unipetrol says prepared to raise refinery stake

Published 03/31/2011, 07:46 AM
Updated 03/31/2011, 07:48 AM
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* Refinery shareholder Eni in talks to sell stake

* Unipetrol says terms must be right to raise majority stake

* Unipetrol sees 2011 crude processing up despite shutdown

(Adds shares, details, quote)

PRAGUE, March 31 (Reuters) - Czech downstream oil group Unipetrol said it was prepared to raise its stake in Ceska Rafinerska if one of the refinery's two other shareholders were to exit, it said in its 2010 annual report.

Unipetrol holds a 51.2 percent stake in the refinery, the largest in the Czech Republic with total annual capacity of 8.8 million tonnes.

It had said earlier this month it was informed that Italy's Eni is in talks with Russia's Gazprom to sell its nearly 33 percent stake in Ceska Rafinerska. "Unipetrol is prepared to increase its stake if one of the two remaining shareholders decides to exit the company, subject to economically justifiable terms," the company said in the report released on Thursday on its website.

Shares in the company were little moved but traded up 1.2 percent on the day at 176.7 crowns, better than a 0.4 percent fall in Prague's PX index.

Royal Dutch Shell is the third shareholder in Ceska Rafinerska with a 16.335 percent stake. Shareholders have a right of first refusal giving them the chance to buy any stake in the company which is put up for sale.

The shareholders are due to have a regular meeting sometime in the coming weeks.

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Unipetrol had shown a fourth quarter net loss due to weak refining results and one-off items but said it expected profit in the first half of the year, frontloading business before an August refinery shutdown at the Litvinov site.

"Despite this planned shutdown, Unipetrol expects that it will manage to process a slightly larger amount of crude oil and sell a larger volume of refinery products in 2011," Unipetrol said in the annual report.

It added it expected an improving diesel-crude oil spread in 2011 thanks to the growing economy, while seeing a narrowing of the gasoline-crude oil spread. (Reporting by Jason Hovet; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)

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