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Hundreds of jobs at stake as Shell entertains final offers for Montreal refinery

MONTREAL — Hundreds of workers at Shell Canada’s refinery in Montreal may be forced to wait a couple of days before they learn if efforts to sell the facility will save their jobs.

MONTREAL — Hundreds of workers at Shell Canada’s refinery in Montreal may be forced to wait a couple of days before they learn if efforts to sell the facility will save their jobs.

The energy company set a deadline of 5 p.m. Tuesday to receive “credible” offers for the facility. But it could take a little while to review any expressions of interest.

“If we do get any offers that are credible, it will take some time to review those, so we likely won’t say much about it until tomorrow or even the day following,” spokesman Larry Lalonde said.

Negotiations were continuing with the lone company that offered to buy the 76-year-old refinery. Shell rejected an initial offer from the unnamed prospective buyer.

“Some of the terms put forward by the interested party are somewhat at a distance away from what our expectations would be,” Lalonde added, refusing to provide details.

After unsuccessfully trying to find a buyer for six months last year, Shell announced in January a change in the refinery’s mission. The company plans to convert the refinery to a distribution centre if it can’t find a buyer.

“We’ve been careful not to raise too much expectations with our employees at the refinery because although there is an expression of interest it doesn’t necessarily mean that we will reach agreement,” Lalonde added.

The union representing about 500 employees hopes a last-minute deal can be achieved. Union president Jean-Claude Rocheleau said workers who gathered at a meeting Monday were nervous about what could transpire.

“It’s their bread and butter,” he said.

Under union pressure, a committee headed by former senator Michael Fortier contacted about 100 potential buyers for the refinery from around the world.

Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay urged Shell to give potential partners the time extra time needed to conclude a deal for the site in the city’s east-end.

The refinery is the largest one operated by Shell in Canada. It processes more than 130,000 barrels of crude oil daily. Should it close, only about 30 jobs will be kept, down from the 500 current direct and 2,500 indirect jobs.

Its closure will leave Montreal with one operational commercial refinery, owned by Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU).

Shell Canada is a unit of Royal Dutch Shell Group (NYSE:RDS.A), the British-Dutch energy giant that is one of the world’s biggest oil and gas companies, with operations spanning the globe.