Shell continues divestment drive

Shell has reached a conditional sales agreement with fuel distribution services company DCC Energy for its LPG operations in Hong Kong and Macau, the Anglo-Dutch major said on Wednesday.

Expected to close in the first quarter of 2018, the transaction is valued at USD 150.3 million. Shell staff in Hong Kong and Macau will be granted the opportunity to transfer to DCC Energy, the company wrote in a press release.

“This sale supports Shell’s strategic commitment to focus Downstream activities on areas where we can be most competitive. This is one of the last of our wholly owned LPG businesses and this sale is another step in Shell’s ongoing portfolio optimisation strategy to deliver USD 30 billion of divestments between 2016 and 2018,” downstream director John Abbott said in comments on the move.

Through a brand-license agreement with DCC Energy, Shell intents to maintain its visibility in the mentioned markets. Last year, it supplied 74,000 tonnes of LPG.

“The acquisition represents a further strengthening of our relationship with Shell and gives us a strong market position in Hong Kong and Macau … It is also DCC’s first material step in building its business outside of Europe and gives DCC a platform for development in the growing LPG market in Asia,” outgoing DCC head Tommy Breen said in a reaction.