By NOEL MURPHY
SHELL’S Corio refinery sale to Vitol is set to be finalised on 1 August.
The sale, to the world’s largest independent oil trader, is part of a $2.6 billion deal announced in February when the Swiss-based company also snapped up Shell’s 870 Australian petrol stations.
Vitol said it was finalising the sale after Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board approved the sale.
The refinery will be re-branded Viva Energy.
The 60-year-old refinery employs 450 staff and 150 contractors to refine 120,000 barrels a day for petrol, diesel, LPG, bitumen, jet fuel, solvent and Avgas.
Vitol executives suggested in February that the refinery’s jobs were safe but also stressed that workers might have to be flexible and open to changes.
