Petroplus, Basell Acquisitions of Shell's French Refineries to Be Complete in Second Quarter of 2008

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land Texas)--Petroplus Holding AG and Basell's acquisitions of Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) refineries in France are expected to be complete in the second quarter of 2008. The European Commission has given the companies the go-ahead for the transactions. Petroplus will acquire the Petit Couronne and Reichstett refineries for $475 million, or $400 excluding assets. Basell will acquire the Berre-l'Etang refinery for $700 million. The transactions are part of Shell's strategy in managing its assets portfolio by selling the refineries while maintaining the commercialization of its products in the French market.

Petit Couronne has a capacity of 154,000 barrels per day (BBL/d), and Reichstett has a capacity of 85,000 BBL/d. Berre-l'Etang also has a capacity of 85,000 BBL/d capacity.

In February 2007, Petroplus took over BP PLC's (NYSE: BP) (London) last British refinery in Coryton with a 172,000 BBL/d capacity for $ 1.4 billion. It is now the largest petroleum European refinery, currently owning and operating five refineries.

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