Exclusive talks between Essar Oil and Royal Dutch Shell over the sale of three European refineries — Heide and Harburg in Germany and Stanlow in Britain — will continue for an unspecified period beyond today’s earlier deadline, Essar Oil said in an emailed statement.
“Shell and Essar jointly confirm that negotiations for the sale and purchase of our three refineries at Stanlow and Germany will continue beyond the end of November,” the statement said.
Essar Oil had last month entered into exclusive talks with Shell to buy these three units. Their refining capacities total to 500,000 barrels a day.
Shell is reviewing the future of its refineries worldwide, as it seeks to reduce costs and cut spending after the global recession curbed demand for fuels and dragged down prices.
The company plans to sell about 15 percent of its global refining capacity, or about 600,000 barrels a day of capacity, in the next three years as part of its restructuring programme aimed at increasing profitability and efficiency. It agreed in September to sell its fuel and lubricant businesses in Greece.
