HELLENiQ ENERGY Holdings S.A., formerly known as Hellenic Petroleum S.A. (), is one of the largest oil companies in

Southeast Europe Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe is a geographical sub-region of Europe, consisting primarily of the region of the Balkans, as well as adjacent regions and Archipelago, archipelagos. There are overlapping and conflicting definitions of t ...

and with its roots dating to 1958 with the establishment of the first oil refinery in

Aspropyrgos Aspropyrgos (, ) is a western suburb, in the Athens metropolitan area and a municipality in the West Attica regional unit in the Thriasio Plain, Attica, Greece. The municipality had a population of 31,381 at the 2021 census. It has an area of 1 ...

, Greece. It adopted its current name in 1998, changing from Public Petroleum Corporation S.A. (; DEP) as the result of a corporate reorganization. It is a consortium of 6 subsidiaries and a number of additional companies of which it has varying degrees of management control.

Activities

Refineries and gas stations

Hellenic Petroleum operates three refineries in Greece, in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

Elefsina Elefsina () or Eleusis ( ; ) is a suburban city and municipality in Athens metropolitan area. It belongs to West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is located in the Thriasio Plain, at the northernmost end of the Saronic Gulf. North of Elefsina ...

and

, which account for 57% of the refining capacity of the country (the remaining 43% belongs to

Motor Oil Hellas Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries S.A. () is a petroleum industry company based in Greece focusing on oil refining and trading. It is a leading force in its sector in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean. History Motor Oil Hellas was founde ...

). Also owns

OKTA In meteorology, an okta is a scale of measurement used to describe the amount of cloud cover at any given location such as a weather station. Sky conditions are estimated in terms of how many eighths of the sky are covered in cloud, ranging fro ...

facilities in

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

Republic of North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

for transportation and marketing of petroleum products. Crude oil for the refineries is supplied from

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. The company also operates over 1700 gas stations in Greece under the BP and EKO brands, and about 300 gas stations in Serbia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Montenegro and the Republic of North Macedonia. It also has a network which sells LPG,

jet fuel Jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF, also abbreviated avtur) is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by Gas turbine, gas-turbine engines. It is colorless to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for ...

, naval fuels and

lubricants A lubricant (sometimes shortened to lube) is a substance that helps to reduce friction between surfaces in mutual contact, which ultimately reduces the heat generated when the surfaces move. It may also have the function of transmitting forces ...

Petrochemicals

Being the most important company that produces

petrochemicals Petrochemicals (sometimes abbreviated as petchems) are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable so ...

in Greece, Hellenic Petroleum has a very significant (over 50% in most cases) share of the market. Their basic products are plastics,

PVC Polyvinyl chloride (alternatively: poly(vinyl chloride), colloquial: vinyl or polyvinyl; abbreviated: PVC) is the world's third-most widely produced synthetic polymer of plastic (after polyethylene and polypropylene). About 40 million tons o ...

and

polypropylene Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain-growth polymerization from the monomer Propene, propylene. Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefin ...

, aliphatic solvents and inorganic chemicals, such as

chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between ...

and

sodium hydroxide Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye and caustic soda, is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a white solid ionic compound consisting of sodium cations and hydroxide anions . Sodium hydroxide is a highly corrosive base (chemistry), ...

. The petrochemicals department is a part of the Thessaloniki refinery.

Electricity

Hellenic Petroleum operates a 390 MW

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

power station in Thessaloniki. It opened in 2005 and it is operated through a subsidiary, T-Power. The fixed

investment Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...

for this plant amounted to 250 million Euros.

Oil exploration

The Group has established partnerships with leading companies in the sector, been awarded exploration and production rights for hydrocarbons in a portfolio of areas in Western Greece, both offshore and onshore in various development steps.

Other

Hellenic Petroleum subsidiaries include the engineering company Asprofos and the polypropylene film production company, DIAXON, whose factory is situated in the industrial area of

Komotini Komotini (, , ), is a city in the Modern regions of Greece, region of East Macedonia and Thrace, northeastern Greece and its capital. It is also the capital of the Rhodope (regional unit), Rhodope. It was the administrative centre of the Rhodope- ...

. The company also controls two shipping companies and has 35% shares in

DEPA Public Gas Corporation of Greece S.A. (corporation), A.E. (DEPA; ) commonly known for its Greek abbreviation DEPA () is the natural gas supply company of Greece. The registered office of the company is based in Irakleio, Attica, Irakleio, Athens. ...

, the Greek natural gas company, and VPI, which produces

PET A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive/ cute appearances, inte ...

resin. Since 2002 Hellenic petroleum owns 54.53% of shares in Jugopetrol AD

Ownership

The company is transitioning from a government-owned enterprise to a privately held enterprise. 21.8% of its shares are available to the public through a float on the

Athens Stock Exchange The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE or ATHEX; , ''Chrimatistírio Athinón'') is the stock exchange of Greece, based in the capital city of Athens. It was founded in 1876. There are currently five markets operating in ATHEX: regulated securities mark ...

, with the Greek government retaining 35.5% and Paneuropean Oil and Industrial Holdings S.A. (a

Latsis family Ioannis "Yiannis" Latsis (; 14 September 1910 – 17 April 2003), also known as John Spyridon Latsis, was a Greek shipping multi-billionaire business magnate notable for his great wealth, influential friends, and charitable activities. The year ...

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

) owning the remaining 45.5% of outstanding shares. The chairman of the

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

is Mr. Yannis Papathanasiou and the Chief Executive Officer of the company is Mr. Andreas Shiamishis.

Response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

Hellenic Petroleum, has continued its operations involving Russian crude oil despite the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has drawn widespread international condemnation and economic sanctions against Russia. While the company has sought alternative suppliers, such as Saudi Arabia, Russian crude still accounted for approximately 15% of its intake in the second half of 2021. According to research by

Yale School of Management The Yale School of Management (also known as Yale SOM) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. The school awards the Master of Business Admi ...

, which assesses corporate responses to the invasion, Hellenic Petroleum falls into the "Grade D" category of "Holding Off New Investments/Development." This classification indicates that the company has postponed future investments or developments but continues substantive business operations involving Russian oil. This stance has drawn criticism as it sustains economic ties with Russia, a country engaged in aggressive actions that have resulted in severe humanitarian crises and civilian casualties in Ukraine.

References

External links

*— {{Authority control Oil and gas companies of Greece Electric power companies of Greece Companies listed on the Athens Exchange Companies in the FTSE/Athex Large Cap Privatization in Greece Companies based in Athens Energy companies established in 1958 Non-renewable resource companies established in 1958 Greek brands Greek companies established in 1958