Business News of Friday, 1 December 2006

Source: --

South Koreans Snub TOR

REASON: No detailed plans for privatisation
SEOUL, Dec 1 - South Korea's top refiner SK Corp. said on Friday it will not consider buying a stake in Tema Oil Refinery (TOR). Samsung Corp. also filed a similar statement saying it will not buy stakes in the Ghana refinery.

In June, the government said it had approached two South Korean companies, SK Corp. and Samsung Corp. to sell a stake in the state-owned oil refinery as part of plan to raise $6 billion for infrastructure development.

"Because we have not been informed of any detailed plans regarding the privatisation of the refinery, we will stop considering the possibility," said SK in a filing with the Korea Exchange.

Ghana's state-owned TOR meets about 80-85 percent of the country's demand for petroleum products, and it plans to more than double its capacity to 100,000 barrels per day to capture a bigger slice of the regional market.