LyondellBasell announced that the sales offering for the 105,000 barrels-per-day refinery in Berre, France has resulted in no offer to purchase the refinery.As a result, Compagnie Petrochimique de Berre S.A.S. (CPB), the refinery operator, intends to initiate consultations with its works councils, as defined under French law, on a project to cease refinery operations.
"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," said Jean Gadbois, General Manager of the Berre site.
"Despite efforts from employees and management, the refinery continues to suffer severe losses and remains unprofitable," Gadbois said. "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."
Approximately 370 jobs would be impacted by this project to cease refinery operations. The continuation of the petrochemical operations at Berre would preserve approximately 900 jobs at the Berre site.
The petrochemical assets at Berre include a steam cracker and world-scale polypropylene and polyethylene plants owned and operated by another LyondellBasell subsidiary. The potential closure would not affect depot operations or the petrochemical plants and third-party facilities at Berre.
The required consultation with the works councils in France is expected to begin in October.
