PRAGUE, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Czech downstream oil groupUnipetrol has agreed to buy partner Royal DutchShell's 16.3 percent stake in Ceska Rafinerska for$27.2 million, boosting its stake in the country's only refineryto 67.6 percent.
The deal's completion is expected at the beginning of 2014and will give Unipetrol a stronger say in the operation.
Italy's Eni will be the only other shareholder.
"The transaction brings Unipetrol (to the) 67.5 percentthreshold, allowing significant improvement of the company'soperational management and bringing operational costs savings,"Unipetrol's Chief Executive Marek Switajewski said.
Ceska Rafinerska runs refineries in Litvinov and Kralupy andhas a total conversion capacity of 8.7 million tons of crude oilper year.
Unipetrol, majority owned by Poland's PKN Orlen, istargeting a return to an operating profit in 2013 but said lastmonth it would be tough to meet its goals.
Like other European refiners, Unipetrol is facingovercapacity in the sector that has squeezed its margins to nearzero. Also the Czech economy is just exiting a record longrecession, weighing on demand, and Unipetrol has also hadunexpected production problems this year.
The group is in the early stages of a five-year, nearly $1billion strategy to invest in plant upgrades and invest in newprojects while integrating deeper its refining and petrochemicalsegments.
"The acquisition of Shell's shares (in Ceska Rafinerska)...improves feedstock security for petrochemical segmentdevelopment," Switajewski said.