State-owned Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI), which is known by its trademark Q8, has agreed a deal to acquire a 50% stake in the Italy-based renewable fuels company Eco Fox.The acquisition is subject to the authority and regulation approvals, according to a statement released by the subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC).Eco Fox produces and trades biofuels and has a plant located in the Italian commune of Vasto.The plant has a capacity of 200,000 tons a year and produces biodiesel as well as associated byproducts for industrial use.Established in 1983, KPI is the international downstream subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.The acquisition of the stake in Eco Fox has been made by KPI’s Italian subsidiary Kuwait Petroleum Italia.In Italy, it currently operates over 2,800 service stations under brands that include Q8 and Q8Easy.Additionally, the brand Q8aviation provides airlines with jet fuel in 18 Italian airports.Kuwait Petroleum Italia also runs a lubricant blending plant under the brand Q8Oils in Castellar Guidobono, south of Milan.In Sicily, KPI owns a 50% share in Milazzo Refinery (RAM).KPI has a range of investments in downstream projects around the world including the Vietnam-based Nghi Son refinery project, in which the company holds a 35.1 per cent stake.In October, Sheikh Nawaf al-Sabah, the deputy chairman and chief executive was looking for a solution to financial problems at the Vietnamese refinery.In August 2023, it was revealed that the refinery, which is Vietnam’s biggest, could incur a large loss for 2023.This was reiterated by Yoshitaka Onuma, the executive officer of Idemitsu Kosan in February this year.The Japanese oil refiner Idemitsu owns 35.1% stake in the refinery.The refinery has a nameplate capacity of 200,000 barrels a day and supplies about 40 per cent of Vietnam's gasoline and diesel.KPI is also developing the Duqm petrochemicals project in Oman in partnership with Oman’s OQ, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic).OQ, Sabic and KPI signed a project development agreement in December 2022 to jointly build the petrochemicals complex in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm (Sezad), along the Arabian Sea coastline of Oman.The agreement was signed on 29 December that year by Talal Bin Hamid Al Aufi, OQ Group CEO, Abdulrahman Bin Saleh Al Fageeh, acting CEO of Sabic, and Shafi Taleb Al Ajmi, CEO of KPI.The three state-owned companies committed to establishing a petrochemical complex consisting of a steam cracker and derivative units and a natural gas liquid (NGL) extraction facility. (ICE KUWAIT)

Fonte notizia: Meed