MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell is in talks with several potential buyers for its refinery outside of San Francisco, but the Anglo-Dutch oil giant is reluctant to part with its last asset in California, three people familiar with the process say, reported Reuters.
The company is in the midst of a massive asset sale, shedding properties from Thailand to the North Sea to pay down debt following its USD54 billion purchase of smaller British rival BG Group last year.
Shell, Europe's largest oil company, has sold around USD15 billion of assets over the past year as part of a planned $30 billion in asset sales to trim debt incurred from the transaction.
Bidders for Shell's 158,000 bpd Martinez refinery, located 30 mi northeast of San Francisco, include PBF Energy and NTR Partners III LLC.
Still, sources familiar with the issue say the company wants to sell for a higher price, with one saying the plant could be valued at about USD900 million.
Shell, which barred potential buyers from hiring advisors during a first round of the auction, has since allowed third parties to review materials related to a sale, according to one person familiar with the negotiations.
Shell declined to comment. PBF referenced its quarterly calls with analysts, where it has said it considers all refining and logistics assets that come on the market, but declined to comment on interest in the specific plant. NTR did not respond to requests for comment.
Shell retained Lazard last year to advise on the overall asset sale program. In the fall, Shell retained Deutsche Bank to find a buyer for the Martinez facility.
As MRC wrote before, in March 2016, Royal Dutch Shell Plc was lining up assets for a USD30 billion divestment program that may extend from the U.S. and Trinidad to India following its record takeover of BG Group Plc.
Royal Dutch Shell, commonly known as Shell, is an Anglo–Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in the Netherlands and incorporated in the United Kingdom.Created by the merger of Royal Dutch Petroleum and UK-based Shell Transport & Trading, it is the fourth largest company in the world as of 2014, in terms of revenue, and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors".
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