Essar in talks with Shell over European refineries

Royal Dutch Shell PLC is in exclusive talks with Indian industrial conglomerate Essar Group about its plans to sell two refineries in Germany and one in the United Kingdom, a company spokesman said. A spokesman for Essar confirmed the negotiations with Shell on the sale of the Heide and Harburg refineries in Germany and the Stanlow plant in the United Kingdom. The sale includes some local marketing operations, but not Shell’s retail operations, the spokesman said. Shell plans to sell off around 15% of its global refining capacity, or around 600,000 barrels a day of capacity, in the next three years as part of its restructuring program aimed at increasing profitability and efficiency. (November 2, 2009)