ROYAL Dutch Shell is talking to a range of prospective buyers for its Stanlow oil refinery – but warned that if it fails to agree a price it could shut the plant or convert it to a depot.

Shell employs about 800 staff at the 173-acre site which was put up for sale last year with several other refineries in a cost-cutting drive.

The oil producer said it was in talks with India’s Essar Group over Stanlow and the Harburg and Heide sites in Germany, but revealed in its first quarter update yesterday, that the talks are not exclusive.

Chief financial officer Simon Henry said Shell still hopes to seal a deal to sell the refineries to Essar, but revealed there are other interested parties.

“We are talking to other potential buyers.,” he said.

They include private equity, national oil companies and players outside Europe. But he declined to give names.

“There are interested buyers . . . the market is liquid, but the question is if prices are OK.”

He added that if Shell should fail to agree on prices it would consider closing a refinery or turning it into a depot. Many industry analysts and sources have said the price tag on a European refinery is difficult to assess, as crude oil prices do not reflect the current weakness in regional demand for oil products.