Chevron looks to sell Welsh oil refinery employing 1,400

The American energy company said it would solicit offers for some of its European operations, including the refinery at Pembroke, west Wales.

A spokeswoman said "all options" were being kept open and no decisions had been made to sell assets. About 600 staff and 800 contractors work at the site, which is capable of processing 220,000 barrels of crude oil a day.

Ministers at the Welsh Assembly government said they would offer what help they could to ensure the refinery had a future when Chevron announced a worldwide review of its business in January.

In a statement, the company said: "Chevron has announced its intention to solicit bids for some of its operations in Europe as part of the company's global downstream restructuring.

"This includes our Pembroke refinery, as well as fuels marketing, aviation and lubricants operations in Europe."

It added: "We have no plans to idle any of our refineries. Our continuing focus is on operating Pembroke refinery in a safe, reliable and environmentally responsible manner."

Welsh deputy first minister Ieuan Wyn Jones, said: "As Chevron's only refinery in Europe, this site is of huge significance in terms of refining capacity and economic value to the area, Wales and the UK."

Vodafone is cutting 375 jobs across its business from this month.

The mobile phone company said the roles affected would be primarily in back office positions in a number of locations including its headquarters in Newbury, Berkshire.

But Vodafone also said that it would take on 170 new staff in customer-facing jobs.

An additional 50 graduates will start work this September after more than 3,000 applied for roles.