Shell seeks to buy oil refinery as part of expansion plans

Oil giant Shell is considering purchasing shares in one Polish oil refinery that would help the concern reduce its dependency on PKN Orlen, which contro ls almost 60% of the wholesale market. Among Shell's potential targets are t he Czechowice, Glimar and the Jaslo refineries, which are currently owned by Nafta Polska. Making such a purchase would enable Shell to strengthen its po sition in negotiations over oil prices. "The date of a purchase will depend on how quickly our market share will increase," said sales director of Shell Produkty Polska, William Kozik. While currently Shell controls about 6% of t he domestic retail market, Kozik revealed that the company has drawn up plan s for a major expansion. "Until 2005 we would like to double the number of o ur gas stations from the 203 we have now to over 400," he said. "We want to build new outlets, but we also are not excluding taking over stations that b elong to our rivals," he added. (Parkiet, p. 1) M.K.