Essar in Talks to Acquire Shell Refineries

India’s Essar Group is in talks with Royal Dutch Shell to buy three refineries in Europe as part of its aim to expand its refining capacity.

Essar aims to acquire Shell’s Stanlow refinery in the UK and the Heide and Harburg plants in Germany, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Shell intends to sell about 15% of its global refining capacity of about 600,000bpd in the next few years, as part of a restructuring programme to improve profitability and efficiency.

The Indian firm operates a 210,000bpd refinery on India’s west coast and has been undertaking acquisitions to expand its global capacity of one million bpd.