Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.12357 – RUHR ENERGY / RUHR OEL / GELSENKIRCHEN RAFFINERIE NETZ) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2026-05-07
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia, economic concentration, electrical energy, electricity supply, energy grid, merger control, oil industry, petrochemicals








C_202602618EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2026/2618


7.5.2026






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.12357 – RUHR ENERGY / RUHR OEL / GELSENKIRCHEN RAFFINERIE NETZ)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2026/2618)


1.   
On 27 April 2026, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1).
This notification concerns the following undertakings:






—


Ruhr Energy, S.A. (‘Ruhr Energy’, Switzerland), indirectly wholly owned by Klesch Group Limited (‘Klesch’, Malta),










—


Ruhr Oel GmbH (‘ROG’, Germany), wholly owned by BP Europa SE (‘BPESE’, Germany),










—


Gelsenkirchen Raffinerie Netz GmbH (‘GRN’, Germany), wholly owned by BPESE.




Ruhr Energy will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole control of the whole of ROG and GRN, as well as certain related assets from BPESE.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares and assets.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are the following:






—


Klesch is mainly active in the refining of crude oil and in the petrochemicals business,










—


ROG processes crude oil and other materials in its refinery at Gelsenkirchen,










—


GRN operates the closed electrical power grid connecting the Gelsenkirchen refinery to the transmission power grid.






3.   
On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved.
Pursuant to the Commission Notice on a simplified treatment for certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings (2) it should be noted that this case is a candidate for treatment under the procedure set out in the Notice.


4.   
The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed concentration to the Commission.
Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of this publication. The following reference should always be specified:
CASE M.12357 – RUHR ENERGY / RUHR OEL / GELSENKIRCHEN RAFFINERIE NETZ
Observations can be sent to the Commission by email or by post. Please use the contact details below:
Email: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu

Postal address:





European Commission




Directorate-General for Competition




Merger Registry




1049 Bruxelles/Brussel




BELGIQUE/BELGIË







(1)  
            OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘Merger Regulation’).

(2)  
            OJ C 160, 5.5.2023, p. 1.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2026/2618/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)