Germany’s Schwedt refinery, whose majority owner Rosneft Deutschland was put under trusteeship by the government last year, will undergo major maintenance in spring that will cututilisation to less than 50%, a state secretary said.

The revision of the refinery, which supplies most of Berlin, has been long scheduled and is not related to current utilisation problems stemming from the ban of Russian oil, said Michael Kellner, state secretary in the Economy Ministry.

This means that utilisation at the refinery, in which Shell SHEL.L and Eni ENI.MI also hold stakes, would be below 50% in April and May, he said after a meeting to discuss the future of the site.

Currently, the site’s utilisation is at less than 60%, said the state premier of Brandenburg, where the refinery is located.

The plan is to get that up to 75%, which could take two to two-and-a-half years.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Miranda Murray)