Pernis cat cracker to stay down for days-source

AMSTERDAM, Dec 5 (Reuters) - A catalytic cracker at Royal Dutch Shell's (RDSa.L) Pernis oil refinery in Rotterdam will stay shut until the start of next week at the earliest following a fire at the plant on Thursday, an industry source said.

The unit, used to make gasoline at Europe's biggest oil refinery, was shut down for safety reasons after the fire broke out at a nearby pipeline carrying heavy diesel oil.

"On Monday or Tuesday they'll have done the examinations and they'll know if there is any damage," said the source on Friday.

"If they don't find anything that needs to be repaired they could start it up again around Tuesday," he added.

He also said the crude distillation units at the 412,000 barrels per day plant were not shut following the fire.

"The crude distillation units are on the other side of the location so they are not affected by the fire," he said.

A spokesman for Shell said on Friday he could not comment on the status of the refinery.

The fire broke out around midday on Thursday but was quickly brought under control and nobody was injured. A Shell spokesman said the plant was still running following the incident. (Reporting by Catherine Hornby)