France: Berre Refinery to Close as No Buyer Found
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Thursday, 29 September 2011 |
LyondellBasell has announced that it has not received any offers to purchase its 105,000 barrels-per-day refinery in Berre. The refiner operator, Compagnie Petrochimique de Berre S.A.S., will initiate consultations with a view to ceasing refinery operations.
"Despite efforts from employees and management, the refinery continues to suffer severe losses and remains unprofitable," said the site’s General Manager, Jean Gadbois. “With no viable prospects for a buyer of the refinery, we intend to initiate the consultation process regarding the contemplated closure of refinery operations. We intend to focus our resources on the core petrochemical assets at Berre."
Gadbois added that a major effort had been made to find a buyer for the facility. "After conducting a thorough sales offering that included reaching out to 85 entities throughout the world with the assistance of Barclays Capital and the Invest in France Agency (AFII), unfortunately not a single bid was received for the refinery," he revealed.
The Berre facility includes polypropylene and polyethylene plants, and the potential closure will not affect these operations. The decision to cease refinery operations will impact on approximately 370 jobs.
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