Isab Refinery in Priolo, Ludoil's due diligence to buy the plants

The contract is there and has been operational for a couple of days now. But that is not the news, or at least not all of it. The news is that Ludoil Energy, an Italian group active in the logistics, storage and distribution of energy products and traceable to the Campania entrepreneur Donato Ammaturo, has started the due diligence for a possible acquisition of the Isab refineries in Priolo Gargallo, passed to the Cypriots of Goi Energy after the exit of the Russians of Lukoil, with the support of the international trader Trafigura.

The agreement already signed for the loading and sale of oil products - limited to the Sicilian market - is in fact only the first operational step of a broader industrial path, which explicitly looks at the ownership of the plant. Clarifying the contours of the operation is a joint note from Ludoil and Isab. A clarification that arrives while, in the background, a litigation front is also opening up: Lukoil, which despite having sold the plants has remained the refinery's commercial counterpart, disputes the legitimacy of the withdrawal from the existing contract.

The heart of the transaction is therefore the due diligence started by Ludoil on the entire industrial complex, an activity that marks a change of phase for Isab, one of the main refining poles in Italy. The two refineries in the industrial area of Syracuse have an authorised processing capacity of 20 million tonnes of crude oil per year, with a utilisation factor of around 60%, and employ around 2,400 people, both directly and indirectly.

Ludoil Energy has grown in recent years along the downstream energy segment, strengthening its presence in infrastructures considered strategic for security of supply. The interest in Priolo is part of a medium-long term industrial design: to take a direct role in one of the Mediterranean's main refining plants, guaranteeing its production continuity and accompanying its evolution. The official communication makes reference to possible developments linked to less carbon-intensive productions, such as Sustainable aviation fuel (Saf), HVO and bioethanol, signs of a strategy that looks to transition without questioning the site's immediate operations.

Ludoil's entry, although limited to the loading phase, has already produced legal effects. Lukoil Italia formally disputes Isab's decision, describing it as having no contractual or legal basis. In an official communication, the company states that there has been no valid termination of the existing contract, which remains fully effective, and that there is no legitimate takeover of other operators in the withdrawal activities. According to Lukoil, all contractual obligations have been duly fulfilled, including the payments due - including a payment of around EUR 29 million made on the afternoon of 12 January - and therefore the contract cannot be considered legitimately terminated.