Tue Dec 21, 2010 1:17pm GMT
* Essar makes bid, given deadline to make firm offer
* Shell will withdraw plant from sale if no deal
* Shell continues to withdraw from European refining
By Tom Bergin
LONDON, Dec 21 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc has told employees at its Stanlow refinery that India’s Essar group has made a “credible” bid for the plant, a union official said.
A Shell spokesman confirmed that the Anglo-Dutch oil giant was in talks with Essar and had given the group until the end of February to come up with a firm bid.
“If by then we cannot get the right value for the assets and do the right deal, they will be withdrawn from sale,” the spokesman said in an emailed statement.
“We are not considering closure or conversion into a terminal,” he added.
Shell is reducing its involvement in refining, especially in Europe, to invest more money upstream in more lucrative oil and gas production.
With many refineries on the block in Europe, prices have come off the levels seen a few years ago but Stanlow could still be worth several hundred million dollars, analysts said.
India’s Energy Group controls two energy-focussed units, London-listed Essar Energy and India-listed Essar Oil. It was unclear which unit was bidding for the refinery.
Essar Energy was not immediately available for comment.
(Reporting by Tom Bergin; Editing by Hans Peters)
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