Gazprom Neft buys Italian lube plant

Russian oil company JSC Gazprom Neft announced that it has bought a lubricants plant in Italy from U.S. oil major Chevron Corp. The company did not disclose the purchase price for the plant, which is located in Bari province on the southeastern tip of Italy, with a production capacity of up to 36,000 metric tons per year. Under the agreement, Gazprom Neft will get the rights to use the Texaco brand to market its products in the Italian market. The company said the acquisition will create “marketing and production synergy” with Serbia’s NIS refinery, which it bought into earlier this year. (April 22, 2009)