Shell Moerdijk cracker closed till late 2015, buys petchems from ENI

LONDON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell (Xetra: R6C1.DE - news) 's Moerdijk cracker in the Netherlands will remain closed until late 2015, and the company will supply its customers from a previously closed petrochemicals complex owned by Italy's Eni (NYSE: E - news) , the oil major said on Wednesday.

Versalis, the petrochemicals division of Italy's Eni, will restart the Porto Marghera, Italy, refinery around mid-February.

Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) shut down the Moedijk complex on Oct. 2 following contamination in the steam system, but restarted two of the four units, which produce styrene, propylene oxide and ethylene oxide, late last year.

"Shell remains committed to continue supply to Moerdijk customers where feasible, and this includes the sourcing of products from third parties and other production locations," said Shell spokeswoman Kayla Macke.

The Porto Marghera refinery has been closed since at least last year, and Versalis recently announced plans to spend 200 million euros to convert the complex to producing biofuels. According to consultants JBC Energy, the cracker runs mostly on LPG, rather than naphtha.

In a statement, Eni said the agreement will not impact the long-term plans for the plant. (Reporting by Libby George; Editing by Michael Urquhart)