Glencore wins processing contract for Germany's Wilhelmshaven oil refinery

By Enes Tunagur and Robert Harvey

LONDON, July 30 (Reuters) - Global miner and commodities trader Glencore will supply Germany's Wilhelmshaven oil refinery and sell its refined fuels, after entering into a processing agreement with its owner HES International, four European trading sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Oil trading houses have increasingly looked to invest in refining in recent years in outright acquisitions or tolling contracts, as refineries offer increased flexibility and a secure outlet for barrels. 

London-listed Glencore takes over the processing contract with the refinery from commodities trader Hartree, the sources told Reuters. 

Glencore and Hartree declined to comment. HES International did not respond to a request for comment. 

The changeover happened recently, two of the sources said, but Reuters could not identify the full terms or timeline of the deal, which is not public and has not previously been reported.

The deal further expands Glencore's footprint in the European fuel market after it completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Dutch fuel supplier FincoEnergies earlier this month.

It also adds to Glencore's refining portfolio, alongside its joint-venture with Chandra Asri for the Singapore refinery, and South African subsidiary Astron Energy's 100,000 bpd Cape Town refinery.

Glencore had a supply agreement with the UK's 113,000 bpd Lindsey oil refinery until it shut down in mid-2025 when owner Prax declared insolvency.    

PARTLY OPERATIONAL 

The Wilhelmshaven refinery at the HES International tank terminal site on Germany's northwestern coast has been partly operational since 2019, when HES restarted an 87,000 barrel-per-day vacuum distillation unit to process crude into low-sulphur marine fuels ahead of the International Maritime Organization's 2020 global sulphur cap.

HES bought the Wilhelmshaven refinery from ConocoPhillips in 2011 and converted it into a large-scale tank terminal facility. The refinery had a processing capacity of 260,000 bpd before it was mothballed. 

The plant also has a 16,000 bpd hydrotreating unit, according to LSEG data. The VDU converts heavy, low-sulphur crude oil, or residual fuel oil, into higher-value fuels, while hydrotreatment removes sulphur from fuels. 

The Wilhelmshaven refinery appears to have run at reduced rates this year, data from analytics firm Kpler suggests.

It last imported crude oil in December, after taking around 34,000 bpd of crude over 2023-2025, most of which was Chadian Doba. Glencore is a regular trader of Doba crude, two West African crude traders said. 

Meanwhile, it has exported 5,000 bpd of fuels this year, mainly fuel oil and gasoil, according to Kpler, down from 32,000 bpd across 2023-2025. 

(Reporting by Enes Tunagur and Robert Harvey in London, editing by Kirsten Donovan)