VLO - Russian-owned oil refineries in Europe fall in the political cross hairs

Tuesday, Italy's Industry Minister announced plans to raise the topic of nationalizing a Lukoil-owned refinery based in Sicily when the Italian Cabinet meets Thursday. Wednesday, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said Germany is preparing to nationalize the Rosneft-owned (OTCPK:RNFTF) PCK refinery in Schwedt. The two refineries process Russian crude oil, and nationalization could be a step towards restricting Russian crude imports into Europe. Given sky-high refining margins, nationalization would also provide European governments with an additional source of income. Importantly, for the refining sector at large, whole-sale changes in management and operations could impact throughput, and given tight oil product markets, even small changes in throughput could send refining margins higher. With neither nationalization plan yet official, let alone effective, there's unlikely to be a near-term impact on oil (USO) or oil product markets; however, as the situation evolves, refining investors (VLO) (PSX) (PARR) (SRS) are likely to remain focused on the political

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Russian-owned oil refineries in Europe fall in the political cross hairs