Petroplus to sell Normandy plant

WORKERS at the Petroplus refinery at Petit-Couronne, near Rouen, were told this morning that after two weeks of a temporary shutdown the oil plant is to be sold - if the Swiss company and the French government can find a buyer.

Industry Minister Eric Besson said he had been in close contact with the management and unions at the plant - which employs 550 - and they were looking at the options available.

"We have been in contact with several possible buyers" he said on RTL "and I ask Petroplus chief executive officer Jean-Paul Vettier to help us with this. He has several cards in hand and I will ask him to move ahead as we want to move quickly to restore industrial activity at Petit-Couronnne."

Petit-Couronnne was closed - along with other Petroplus refineries at Antwerp in Belgium and Cressier (Switzerland) - after banks refused to extend €1 billion credit to the company which lost $415 million in the first nine months of 2011 as the European economy slowed down and cut demand.

The three closed refineries account for around 2% of Europe's refining capability and Euro MPs have met EU Commissioner Laszlo Andre to ask him to step in.

Petroplus said in a press release today it is "initiating a sales process" for the Petit-Couronne plant and intends to complete the process in the coming months.

Workers at the plant have been blockading shipments of refined products from leaving the site since it was closed.

Photo: zigazou76