9 Dec 2009, 0312 hrs IST, Mohit Bhalla & Dev Chatterjee, ET Now
Standard Chartered Bank has extended a $1-billion (Rs 4,600 crore) line of credit to Essar Oil to part-finance its acquisition of Royal Dutch Shells refinery assets in Europe, a senior banker told ET NOW, as the Indian company moves closer to sealing a deal estimated to be worth over $2 billion.
Essars senior management team, including promoter-director Prashant Ruia, were in London recently giving finishing touches to the transaction to buy Shells Heide and Harburg refineries in Germany and the Stanlow refinery in the United Kingdom, a top company executive said.
The two sides are currently discussing human resources-related issues and Essars management has also had discussions with the labour unions to ensure that the integration process post the acquisition is seamless. The deal will be finalised by the end of this month, the executive said. Representatives of Essar and Shell declined to comment.
Labour unions at Shells British refinery want assurances from Essar that their pension liabilities will be adequately protected once the Indian company wins ownership. The executive added that the acquisition will be an all-cash transaction after the Anglo-Dutch company did not show interest in an offer of a 10% stake in Essar Oil as part payment.
Essar and Royal Dutch Shell were in exclusive negotiations for the refineries until November 30, when they announced an indefinite extension of talks.
Apart from buying Shells refineries, the Essar Group is also exploring the possibility of setting up its own retail network in Europe if it gets the right acquisition opportunity. The refineries in Germany have an aggregate refining capacity of around 200,000 barrels per day, while the Stanlow refinery in the UK has a capacity to produce 272,000 barrels per day.
Shell has said it plans to sell aroun 15% of its global refining capacity, or around 6,00,000 barrels per day, as part of a restructuring exercise. Tight margins and falling fuel demand have prompted many big oil companies to offload European and US refineries. Refining profitability, in particular, has taken a knock in the global downturn.
This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
