Portugal considers concentrating its Galp stake in Sines refinery after Moeve talks collapse

Galp talks with Moeve end without a deal

Galp ended its negotiations with Moeve on 26 October without reaching an agreement. The talks concerned a possible combination of the two companies' refining and fuel marketing businesses. Moeve is controlled by Mubadala Investment Company, the Abu Dhabi sovereign fund, and the US group Carlyle. Under the proposal, Moeve would have gained control of 80% of the Sines refinery, the only one in Portugal. Galp gave no further details when it announced the end of the talks, and it still intends to split its commercial business from its industrial business, with the refinery on the industrial side.

Government weighs a bigger stake in the refinery

Speaking to parliament on Tuesday, 3 November, during the hearing on the 2027 state budget (OE2027), Maria da Graça Carvalho said the state may concentrate its shareholding on the refinery. She told MPs the following:

“It may not be out of the question for us to concentrate our participation in the refinery, which is what interests us, without additional costs.”

The state currently holds 8% of Galp. On 29 October, Economy Minister Castro Almeida said Galp's decision to end the Moeve talks is sovereign, while insisting the government had done its part. In a weekend interview with Jornal de Negócios and Antena 1, he said that ruling out a larger state stake would be untrue. A Galp official source told Lusa that further investment at Sines could be considered, but only under a regulatory framework that lets the company anticipate long-term fuel demand.

REN stake and the sovereignty case

On 30 October the state completed its purchase of a 5.3% stake in REN from Fidelidade for 138.791 million euros, raising its holding to 19%, the Ministry of Finance announced on Tuesday. The deal went through Parpública after the Court of Auditors granted its prior visa on Thursday, 29 October. To finance it, the state transferred 136.036 million euros to Parpública, on top of unused funds from the first phase of the acquisition.

The minister said the form of state representation at REN is still being studied, with the calendar pointing to the general meeting in April. She said:

“Until then it stays as it is, but then there will be a new design and we will see how the state will be represented in REN.”

Price paid for 5.3% REN stake138.791

Transferred to Parpública136.036

Price paid for 5.3% REN stake

138.791 million euros

Transferred to Parpública

136.036 million euros

Data from the article text

She described the operation as an investment, not linked to debt or deficit, and said the state had put 528 million euros into REN without spending it. She argued the government already had influence through its role as grantor of the concession and through the regulator, but that being inside the company is important for a firm like REN. She also stressed that Portugal had been the only EU country whose electricity transmission company had no state stake.

Legal tools and foreign control

Asked by Chega about concrete guarantees that Galp's control would stay in Portugal, the minister said that financing from outside the EU would let the state act directly. For European investment, she said, the answer would rely on competition rules or a larger state stake in Galp. She cited Decree-Law 138/2014, which allows refusing non-EU investors in strategic assets, and EU Regulation 452 of 2019, which allows opposition to non-EU investment in critical infrastructure. She added that a 2026 EU regulation on critical infrastructure security could have applied to the Galp-Moeve deal. She said the government has the legal means to act if national control of the refinery were ever at risk, and she ruled out any future loss of sovereignty over it.

Data centres and water conditions

The same hearing turned to data centres, where the minister signalled a series of requirements for building such facilities in Portugal. Those requirements cover digitalisation, scientific research and added value. On water, she said projects must either use a cooling technology that needs no water or adopt a solution that does not conflict with water supplies for the general population. The topic arose during questions on the 2027 budget, which is still at committee stage.