Essar to seal deal with Royal Dutch Shell for Stanlow refinery

Essar Energy Plc will sign an agreement with Royal Dutch Shell in the next 10 days to acquire its refinery in Stanlow, northwest England.

"Shell has largely concluded the consultation with employees. We expect to sign the agreement in the next week to 10 days. Thereafter, the closing process will start and we expect to take ownership of the refinery in the second half of this year," said Naresh Nayyar, chief executive officer, Essar Energy on Monday.

Essar, which has paid $350 million for the refinery, said it will integrate this with its existing refinery business. It plans to leverage Shell’s distribution network in Europe to market its exported diesel from its refinery in Vadinar, Gujarat.

Net profit for 2010 was $248.3 million, against $206.8 million in the previous year. Revenues were up 42 per cent at $10 billion. During the year, the company earned $6.6 on turning every barrel of crude oil into petroleum products. This against a gross refining margin of $4.2 in 2009. Nayyar said gross refining margins have been increasing since the fourth quarter of 2009.