US oil giant, Chevron Corp, yesterday announced that it had completed the sale of its fuels marketing and aviation businesses in the Eastern Caribbean. The transaction comprises nine countries in the region: Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Dominica, St Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Guyana, St. Kitts and Trinidad & Tobago. The businesses were sold to Vitogaz, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RUBIS, an international downstream petroleum company based in France, according to a Chevron statement. The statement contained no financial information and efforts to get clarification on this and other issues proved futile.

The sale of the businesses includes a network of 75 service stations, interest in nine aviation facilities, five LPG filling plants, seven storage terminals, and trading and shipping operations. This asset base forms part of the overall purchase of Chevron’s 15-country network comprising 174 service stations operating under the Texaco brand, an equity interest in an associated refinery operation, proprietary and joint-venture terminals and aviation facilities and a commercial and industrial fuels business.
The remaining transactions for Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Belize, Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guiana, are expected to close by third quarter 2011 following receipt of required local regulatory and government approvals, according to the statement. Question on whether state-owned National Petroleum Marketing Company had been approached to purchase the Chevron businesses, an official of the local company said it had not been approached.