Shell selling Stanlow, and other European refineries

[s2art]

WTF? Anyone know what is going on here? Profits are down, but Shell is still a huge profitable company. What do they know that we dont?

[TheEnd]

Karma for unofficial strikes

[Groober]

An article said the plans shell have in place to cut costs in the coming years would reduce their refining capacity by 8%. When demand for fuel picks up that could have a major impact surley.

[DSM2]

Anyone know how much they are asking? I wouldn't mind having my own refinery...........

[johnfm]

Groober said:

An article said the plans shell have in place to cut costs in the coming years would reduce their refining capacity by 8%. When demand for fuel picks up that could have a major impact surley.

Well, it depends at what capacity they are running at at the moment. I expect they know how much capacity they need and now and in the future.

[Olf]

Many oil cos will tell you there ain't much money in refining. Especially if the refinery is becoming aged...

Edited by Olf on Tuesday 18th August 22:35

[GT03ROB]

Groober said:

An article said the plans shell have in place to cut costs in the coming years would reduce their refining capacity by 8%. When demand for fuel picks up that could have a major impact surley.

Depends on how you see the ROI in upstream as against downstream as against retail......retail is abysmal.... downstream is very competitive, upstream is the preserve of the few. Makes total sense.

[Groober]

GT03ROB said:

Groober said:

An article said the plans shell have in place to cut costs in the coming years would reduce their refining capacity by 8%. When demand for fuel picks up that could have a major impact surley.

Depends on how you see the ROI in upstream as against downstream as against retail......retail is abysmal.... downstream is very competitive, upstream is the preserve of the few. Makes total sense.

I see!

[ZondaMark]

Haven't they said they'll keep it open if they can't find a buyer?

[leon_t]

They're simply carrying out a review of the profitability of many of theirdownstream sites, including the potential to sell facilities if they decide that they do not offer a profitable, stable future. It's a common thing for oil companies to do in poor market conditions, I know of at least one other major oil co. doing similar (but not with UK facilities at this point I must add).

No certainty they'll sell Stanlow, they may chose any one of a number of options.

[skwdenyer]

s2art said:

WTF? Anyone know what is going on here? Profits are down, but Shell is still a huge profitable company. What do they know that we dont?

Perhaps they could redevelop it as one of the new "eco towns"?

Seriously, since I worked there for a while, I'd hate to think what it would cost to decommission that site. I still remember the safety briefing: "there are 3 site-wide alarms here; fire is the least serious". The prospect of a leak from the high-pressure HF "ring main" wasn't much fun, but even less fun was the day the cat cracker went up