Shell to shut down key R&D center in the U.K.

Shell has confirmed that the company will shut down the Shell Technology Centre Thornton, in Chester, U.K., a key center for fuels research at Shell, in 2014. The closure of Thornton follows the sale of the nearby Stanlow refinery, its last U.K. refinery and the country’s second largest, to India’s Essar Energy two years ago. The Shell Technology Centre Thornton has been the base for developing biofuels and more traditional fuels for customers that include the Ferrari Formula One racing team. The company announced last May that it was shutting the laboratory, but had said that there would be a “presence at Thornton for the foreseeable future.” Since then, about 180 jobs have been moved to Hamburg, Germany. A Shell spokesman said that “Shell is making changes to its research and product development activity in the U.K.” Shell said the move was “part of a global review of our technology footprint.” (April 12, 2012)