On Tuesday the Dutch energy conglomerate’s US offshoot confirmed that it will continue to represent the interests of domestic refiners during the next round of negotiations, which are scheduled to take place tomorrow.

“While we continue running our business, we look forward to reaching a mutually satisfactory agreement with the USW,” the company added.

The statement follows the release of a letter in which Aamir Farid, the vice president of Shell’s US manufacturing division, told staff his company was “disappointed” that the union “seems unwilling to achieve a timely and reasonable agreement”.

Farid