Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc is delaying the start of a gasoline unit at Pernis, Europe’s largest refinery, by at least a week after a pipeline fire forced its shutdown last month, two people familiar with the situation said.

The 50,000 barrel-a-day fluid catalytic cracker, or FCC, may begin operations as early as mid-January, the people said, declining to be identified because the information is confidential. The unit’s restart may be delayed until the end of the month because of severe weather in the area, one of the people said.

Refiners in Europe are losing money producing gasoline as consumers cut spending on travel amid the global economic crisis. The motor fuel was trading for $6.08 a barrel below Brent crude oil compared with a discount of $5.33 yesterday, according to London-based broker PVM Oil Associates Ltd. Typically fuels are more expensive than their feedstocks to reflect the cost of processing.

The cracker was originally due to start in mid-December after repairs on a pipeline to the unit were completed following a Dec. 4 fire. That restart was delayed by as much as three weeks, two people familiar with the situation said on Dec. 16.

Shell spokesman Wim van de Wiel, based at the company’s headquarters in The Hague, couldn’t be reached for comment.

The refinery, near Rotterdam, has the capacity to process 416,000 barrels of oil a day.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nidaa Bakhsh in London at nbakhsh@bloomberg.netFred Pals in Amsterdam at fpals@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 6, 2009 12:43 EST