Workers at the Royal Dutch Shell BV's fuel refinery at Clyde and Gore Bay Terminal in Greenwich, Sydney, NSW are in danger of losing their jobs as the company would likely convert its facility to a fuel import terminal.

Australian employees at the Shell refinery numbering 310 were informed of the said changes that the company will implement in the next few months.

Company officers announced today that the Clyde Refinery based in New South Wales is no longer competitive compared to the new "mega refineries" in Asia.

Shell's other refinery is located in Geelong, Victoria, and it has been estimated to supply 25 percent of Australia's petrol requirements of no less than 20,000 million litres a day.

It comes a week after Shell announced the sale of its Stanlow refinery in England for $350 million to India's Essar Enegy.

The proposal requires the approval of the Shell Australia board.

"The proposal to convert Clyde into a terminal is consistent with Shell's strategy to focus its refining portfolio on larger integrated assets, and to build a profitable downstream business here in Australia," Shell vice-president Andrew Smith said in a statement.

"Shell acknowledges the valuable contribution made by local employees in servicing the NSW market for more than 100 years. We commit to a timely consultation process and to providing support to our employees during this period."

Clyde is one of seven operating refineries in Australia.

In a 2009 study done by KPMG, the research and accounting firm established a correlation among Australia's petroleum refinery capacity to the growth of its local industries.