ELPE (Hellenic Petroleum) is believed to be preparing to express an interest in bankrupt oil trading company Jetoil, or a part of its assets, either independently or with an investment partner.

This prospect follows the interest already expressed in Jetoil, once a formidable market player, by Cetracore Energy, a Vienna-based company in which Russia’s Rosneft holds a stake.

ELPE will need to wait for the outcome of ongoing negotiations between Cetracore Energy, banks, creditors and Jetoil shareholders.

It remains unclear whether Cetracore Energy’s quest to take over Jetoil will prove successful. Though no objections had become apparent until now, rumors have emerged over the past few days claiming that the creditor banks deem the guarantees offered by Cetracore Energy as insufficient.

If these rumors are confirmed and the Jetoil rescue procedure currently reserved for Cetracore Energy runs out of time, then other interested parties will be invited to submit offers.

This is where ELPE, one of Jetoil’s creditors, could move in. The Greek refinery appears to be focusing its interest on Jetoil’s storage facilities in Thessaloniki, not the company as a whole.

At its peak, Jetoil held a 10 percent market share following the addition of the Dracoil and El Petrol retail networks to its ranks.

Jetoil’s founder and president Kyriakos Mamidakis committed suicide last summer, at the age of 84, not long after the company had filed for bankruptcy.