Posted on 12/31/2011 10:07:52 PM PST by thackney
The Swiss firm will suspend operations at its Petit Couronne refinery in northern France, Cressier in the Swiss canton of Neuchatel and its Antwerp site in Belgium.
The action followed Tuesday's announcement that banks had frozen about $US1 billion ($A989.32 million) in uncommitted credit lines deemed "critical" to maintain its operations.
"The company will start temporary economic shutdowns of the Petit Couronne, Antwerp and Cressier refineries in January 2012 given limited credit availability and the economic climate in Europe," Petroplus said in a statement on Friday.
The firm, Europe's largest independent oil refiner, said it held meetings with lenders in Zurich on Thursday, describing the talks as "open and constructive."
Further negotiations will take place in the coming days as the company seeks to get the credit restored.
"The restart of the refineries is dependent on economic conditions and credit availability," Petroplus said.
Petroplus Holdings AG is headquartered in the city of Zug near Zurich and headed by Frenchman Jean-Paul Vettier.
The firm also owns the Coryton refinery in England and the Ingolstadt refinery in Germany, employing about 2,500 people across the five plants which have a combined capacity of about 667,000 barrels a day.
French workers had feared their plant would be hit by the credit freeze and appealed for government support following the announcement.
Ministers assured unions that they were pulling out all stops to assist Petroplus during its talks with lenders, understood to comprise 13 international banks.
The spotlight fell on the Petit Couronne and Cressier sites as they were reportedly the least profitable in the last quarter.
Earlier this year Petroplus closed its Reichstett refinery in France which employed about 250 people.
The credit freeze sent shares on the Swiss market tumbling and on Thursday credit ratings agencies Standard and Poor's and Moody's slashed the firm's rating, indicating it was vulnerable to default.
On Friday the Petroplus share price was up by about seven per cent to 1.76 Swiss francs towards 1530 GMT (0230 AEDT Saturday) after three days of falls which saw them lose more than half their value.
Don’t send Europe a barrel. Raw or finished.
Our demand is down and a refinery capacity is up.
Should we idle refineries or take a profit and sell them a couple barrels?
“Don’t send Europe a barrel. Raw or finished.”
I’m pretty sure that ExxonMobil, Chevron, Valero et al don’t much care what anybody thinks at FreeRepublic, but I’m sure glad that the Europeans didn’t have that attitude after Katrina.
First thread on FR in 2012...awesome!
And by shutting down the Keystone Pipeline, Obama has deprived the US of the potential to export refined products made from Canadian crude. I wonder how this benefits Soros?
Three refineries on the East coast are being shuttered even as we speak read.
Janis Joplin said, “Get it while you can...”
Hey mohammeds of the world look Im putting the noose around my neck all you have to do is kick out the chair from under me.
Its better to be lucky than good.
Happy New Year!
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