There will be no immediate impact on Shell's marine fuels and lubricant sales in France despite an agreement to sell its biggest refinery in the country.
Royal Dutch Shell announced today that it has received an offer for its Berre-l'Etang refinery complex and businesses, and that it was pressing ahead with the sale of another two plants in France.
It said Shell will continue to serve its customers in France in a range of businesses including retail, commercial road transport, lubricants (including Marine Lubricants), LPG, aviation and bitumen.
“I would like to reassure you that Shell's Marine operations and services to customers in France will not be impacted in 2007, and business will continue as usual,” James Humfrey, Shell’s Regional Fuel Sales Manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, told Bunkerworld today.
“We will continue to sell lubricants in France as normal for the foreseeable future, as this business is not affected by the [refinery] sale and will remain with Shell.
“We will also continue to sell bunkers directly at least until the end of the year.”
The statement from Humfrey came as the French arm of Shell (Société des Pétroles Shell) said it had received an offer from the Dutch petrochemical company Basell International Holdings BV to buy its Berre-l'Etang refinery complex and businesses.
It said a purchase price of $700 million had been agreed and that the sale was now subject to staff consultation and regulatory approval. It anticipated that any deal would be concluded early next year.
At the same time, Shell confirmed that it was looking at the possible sale of its other two French refineries, Petit Couronne and Reichstett Vendenheim, to the Swiss refiner Petroplus Holdings AG.
Berre-l'Etang is some 30 kilometres north-west of Marseilles, where Shell has been one of four major bunker suppliers in the Marseilles-Fos port complex.
Analysts say the Berre-l'Etang refinery has the capacity to process about 220,000 barrels of crude oil per day (bpd) and that Petit Couronne and Reichstett Vendenheim have a combined capacity of 220,000 bpd.
Shell Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer has said the company would like to shift the focus of its oil refinery business to Asia.
"In the downstream business, we move from west to east in the world," he said in February. "Why? Quite simple, because the growth is there."
Royal Dutch Shell announced today that it has received an offer for its Berre-l'Etang refinery complex and businesses, and that it was pressing ahead with the sale of another two plants in France.
It said Shell will continue to serve its customers in France in a range of businesses including retail, commercial road transport, lubricants (including Marine Lubricants), LPG, aviation and bitumen.
“I would like to reassure you that Shell's Marine operations and services to customers in France will not be impacted in 2007, and business will continue as usual,” James Humfrey, Shell’s Regional Fuel Sales Manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, told Bunkerworld today.
“We will continue to sell lubricants in France as normal for the foreseeable future, as this business is not affected by the [refinery] sale and will remain with Shell.
“We will also continue to sell bunkers directly at least until the end of the year.”
The statement from Humfrey came as the French arm of Shell (Société des Pétroles Shell) said it had received an offer from the Dutch petrochemical company Basell International Holdings BV to buy its Berre-l'Etang refinery complex and businesses.
It said a purchase price of $700 million had been agreed and that the sale was now subject to staff consultation and regulatory approval. It anticipated that any deal would be concluded early next year.
At the same time, Shell confirmed that it was looking at the possible sale of its other two French refineries, Petit Couronne and Reichstett Vendenheim, to the Swiss refiner Petroplus Holdings AG.
Berre-l'Etang is some 30 kilometres north-west of Marseilles, where Shell has been one of four major bunker suppliers in the Marseilles-Fos port complex.
Analysts say the Berre-l'Etang refinery has the capacity to process about 220,000 barrels of crude oil per day (bpd) and that Petit Couronne and Reichstett Vendenheim have a combined capacity of 220,000 bpd.
Shell Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer has said the company would like to shift the focus of its oil refinery business to Asia.
"In the downstream business, we move from west to east in the world," he said in February. "Why? Quite simple, because the growth is there."