(Adds approval expected by Jan. 13)
By Stefanie Eschenbacher and Erwin Seba
MEXICO CITY/HOUSTON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell
on Thursday confirmed a Reuters report that the sale of
its controlling interest in a Texas refinery to Mexican state
oil company Petroleos Mexicanos has been delayed until next
year.
A review of the deal by the Committee on Foreign Investment
in the United States, an national security group chaired by the
U.S. Treasury, had been expected to wrap up this month but has
been extended into next year, Shell spokesperson Curtis Smith
said.
Shell in May disclosed an agreement to sell its 50% interest
in the 302,800-barrel-per-day (bpd) Deer Park, Texas, refinery
outside Houston to partner Pemex for about $596 million https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/shell-sell-interest-deer-park-refinery-partner-pemex-2021-05-24.
The closing was expected this month, officials have said.
"We were hopeful we could conclude the sale before the end
of the month, however, it now looks like the full amount of time
will be needed," Smith said. "We will continue to cooperate with
CFIUS as they review the transaction."
The CFIUS approval process runs until Jan. 13 for obtaining
regulatory approvals, according to a person familiar with the
matter.
"After CFIUS approval, the transfer process will take days,"
said the person who asked not to be named.
The delay signals CFIUS has moved past its initial 45-day
review and into a second, investigative period. The committee is
charged with reviewing sales of critical U.S. infrastructure to
foreign buyers for national security implications.
The second phase does not signal a potential rejection by
the security group. Questions raised during the inital review
can be resolved with a letter of agreement or a mitigation
agreement, according to a former CFIUS official not involved in
the Pemex review.
(Reporting by Stefanie Eschenbacher and Ana Isabel Martinez in
Mexico City and Erwin Seba in Houston; Editing by David
Gregorio)