Shell Oil Products US has begun closing its lubricant blending plant in St. Louis and expects to have the facility fully shuttered by mid-October. The plant is the third of seven that the company decided to sell or close after Shells acquisition of Pennzoil-Quaker State Co. a year ago.
A spokesman told Lube Report that the company is on schedule to have all seven facilities closed by the end of this year. A plant in Vernon, Calif., stopped operating in June and is being redeployed as a distribution center. A plant in Bluefield, W.Va., closed in July, and the company is still evaluating options for redeployment.
Three facilities in Shreveport, La., and another in Seattle, Wash., are scheduled to cease operations during the fourth quarter. Two of the Louisiana plants, Shreveport Hollywoodand Shreveport Valley View, are being marketed for sale, and Shell is engaged in active discussions with several interested parties, the spokesman said.