August 2, 2007 -- Basell and Société de Pétroles Shell SAS announced today that Basell has made an offer to buy the Shell oil refinery and associated infrastructure and businesses at the Berre l'Etang petrochemical complex in France. Subject to staff council consultation, review and approval from regulatory authorities and agreement on the sale and purchase documents, the transaction is expected to close early 2008. A purchase price of $700 million has been agreed.
With world-scale polypropylene and polyethylene plants, a steam cracker and butadiene extraction unit at the same site and a polyethylene plant at nearby Fos sur Mer, Basell is currently the largest customer of the Shell refinery. The refinery’s products include naphtha, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), fuels for a variety of applications, bitumen and heating oil.
“The refinery is of strategic importance to Basell because it provides a further backward integration of our activities at the Berre site, one of our core European sites,” said Volker Trautz, CEO of Basell. “Its products play an important role in support of our Polyolefins Europe business and through the acquisition we will be able to simplify existing interfaces and operate even more effectively.”
Commenting on the transaction, Rob Routs, Executive Director Oil Products and Chemicals, Royal Dutch Shell plc, said: “The deal is consistent with our strategy of ‘more upstream, profitable downstream’, where we aim to focus and simplify the portfolio of the Downstream business to those areas that give us the best returns and allow us to use capital to invest in growth markets. We believe this deal is in the long-term best interests of our shareholders, staff and customers.”
In 2006, to strengthen its ethylene and propylene integration, Basell acquired the remaining 50% interest in the steam cracker at the same petrochemical complex at Berre from Shell, its former partner in the cracker joint venture. If the refinery transaction is completed the approximately 1,500 Shell employees at the site will transfer to Basell (of this 1,500, about 500 already work for Basell’s site activities).
About Basell
Basell is the global leader in polyolefins technology, production and marketing. It is the largest producer of polypropylene and advanced polyolefin products; a leading supplier of polyethylene and catalysts, and the industry leader in licensing polypropylene and polyethylene processes, including providing technical services for its proprietary technologies. Basell, together with its joint ventures, has manufacturing facilities in 19 countries and sells products in more than 120 countries. Basell is privately owned by Access Industries. (www.basell.com)
About Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell is a global leader in Downstream activities. The company has some 4 million barrels per day of world wide refining capacity, and around 25 million tonnes per year of petrochemicals capacity. Shell is the world's largest single branded fuels retailer with some 46,000 service stations worldwide, and operations in more than 130 countries and territories around the world.
About Royal Dutch Shell plc
Royal Dutch Shell plc is incorporated in England and Wales, has its headquarters in The Hague and is listed on the London, Amsterdam, and New York stock exchanges. Shell companies have operations in more than 130 countries with businesses including oil and gas exploration and production; production and marketing of Liquefied Natural Gas and Gas to Liquids; manufacturing, marketing and shipping of oil products and chemicals and renewable energy projects including wind and solar power.
Media Contacts:
Basell
Waldemar Oldenburger, office: +49 (0)69 - 305 – 85459, mobile: +49 - (0)172 - 741 2381, email: waldemar.oldenburger@basell.com.
Shell
Sarah Smallhorn, office: +44 20 7934 2713, mobile: +44 77 6877 3202.
