---

Swiss-based refiner Petroplus Holdings AG is looking to sell its 117,000 barrels-per-day Teesside refinery, a senior company official said on Tuesday.

Speaking at Wood Mackenzie’s Global Refining Seminar, as part of the Energy Institute’s International Petroleum Week 2009, Chief Financial Officer Karyn Ovelmen [pictured] said the company will consider converting the facility into a storage site or terminal if it is not sold.

"We are looking to sell Teesside over the next six months," she said. "If there is no sale we may turn it into a terminal or storage facility."

The Teesside refinery is located on a 40 hectare site on the northern coast of England. The site was built in 1966 and acquired by Petroplus in January 2001 from ICI and Phillips Petroleum Company United Kingdom Ltd.

The plant is focused on straight run distillation with a name plate capacity of 117,000 barrels per day. It is the primary source of product for the bunker market in the Tyne Tees area.

The refinery has well established outlets to deliver its products to customers. Straight run fuel oil is typically sold f.o.b. at the refinery to various European refineries and chemical companies.

The refinery's middle distillates are sold predominantly in the United Kingdom, by truck and train. Heavy and light distillates, including naphtha, are sold in more-distant industrial regions of the United Kingdom as well as abroad for industrial use, with delivery in each case occurring by barge or pipeline.

Speaking yesterday, Ovelmen said runs had already been reduced at its plants as 60 percent of its product output is currently losing money versus dated Brent.

Earlier this month, Petroplus reported a net loss of $774.9 million for the three months ended December 31st 2008 compared with a profit of $136.9 million the previous year.

On announcing the company's financial results, Robert J. Lavinia, Petroplus’s Chief Executive Officer mentioned the possibility of a sale or conversion of its existing facilities.

“The Board of Directors has reviewed the refinery operations and based on required future capital investments at the site, the company will evaluate strategic alternatives, including the potential sale or conversion to a terminal or storage facility," said Lavinia.