April 11 (Reuters) - Rhone Energies, a consortium of

commodity trader Trafigura and Entara LLC, is in exclusive

negotiations with Exxon Mobil's ( XOM ) ESSO SAF to acquire

the Fos-sur-Mer refinery in southern France and the Toulouse and

Villette de Vienne terminals.

Trafigura said in a statement on Thursday it would enter

into a minimum 10-year exclusive crude oil supply and product

offtake agreement, including ownership of crude oil and product

stocks in tank.

Fos-sur-Mer refinery has a crude oil processing capacity of

140,000 barrels per day.

Trafigura added that Rhone Energies would continue to supply

ESSO SAF in the region.

The deal's "completion is subject to regulatory approvals

and is expected by the end of 2024. The financial terms of the

proposed transaction are confidential," the company said.

This is the second major acquisition by Trafigura this year

following an agreement to buy the European business of

Greenergy, a UK-based supplier of road fuels and a biodiesel

producer.

Trading firms like Trafigura and rival Vitol are looking for

acquisition opportunities globally after they raked in billions

over the last two years due to the European energy crisis and

market volatility caused by sweeping western sanctions on

Russia.

Trafigura posted a record net profit of about $7.4 billion

for last year, up 5% from 2022.

ESSO shares are up 9.2% on Thursday, the highest since July

2008.