MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell Industries NV has promised the government to keep petrochemical operations near Marseille operational in the "long term" while a refinery there will be permanently shut, as per Bloomberg.
The petrochem major has confirmed that the closure of its refinery will not affect the viability of its petrochemical activities at the Berre and Fos sites. The company also agreed to clean up the refinery site so it can be used for other industrial and logistics businesses.
The comments close another chapter in the decline of refining in France. The 105,000 barrel-a-day plant has been mothballed since January 2012 and talks with bidder Sotragem SAM ended without a deal last month.
Refiners are mothballing plants across Europe, where overcapacity is depressing profit margins. In recent years Petroplus Holdings AG and Total SA have stopped refining at their plants at Petit-Couronne, Reichstett and Dunkirk.
As MRC wrote before, LyondellBasell had pulled out of talks to sell its Berre refinery in southeastern France to Monaco-based Sotragem.
LyondellBasell Industries NV is a manufacturing company. The company produces chemicals, fuels, and polymers used for packaging, clean fuels, durable textiles, medical applications, construction materials, and automotive parts. LyondellBasell Industries operates globally and is headquartered in the Netherlands. LyondellBasell is also a leading licensor of polypropylene and polyethylene technologies. The more than 250 polyolefin process licenses granted by LyondellBasell are twice that of any other polyolefin technology licensor.
MRC