Prior notification of a concentration

(Case M.9067 — Equinor Refining Norway/Danske Commodities)

Candidate case for simplified procedure

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2018/C 417/13)

On 31 October 2018, 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:

—	Equinor Refining Norway AS (‘Equinor Refining’, Norway), ultimately controlled by Equinor ASA (Norway),

—	Danske Commodities A/S (‘Danske Commodities’, Denmark).

Equinor Refining acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole control of the whole of Danske Commodities.

The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—	Equinor Refining is part of the Norwegian-based Equinor Group, whose business activities consist principally of worldwide exploration, production, transportation, refining and marketing of petroleum and petroleum-derived products, gas and other forms of energy, including renewable energy,

—

Danske Commodities is a Danish independent trading house, specialising in physical and financial trading of electricity and gas. Danske Commodities is also active in origination, and provides balancing, optimisation, hedging, certificates and back-up supply to power generators, industrial companies, energy suppliers, and net-operators.

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 procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under the Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (2) it should be noted that this case is a candidate for treatment under the procedure set out in the Notice.

The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed operation 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:

M.9067 — Equinor Refining Norway/Danske Commodities

Observations can be sent to the Commission by email, by fax, or by post. Please use the contact details below:

Email: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu

Fax +32 22964301

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 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.