Petroplus files for backruptcy
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Zug, Switzerland – Europe’s largest independent oil refiner Petroplus Holdings AG is to file for insolvency after failing to reopen credit lines with its main lenders or to secure new finance to maintain operations and meet financial obligations. The company’s five refineries have a combined throughput capacity of approximately 667,000 bpd.
Jean-Paul Vettier, Petroplus’ chief executive officer, said, “We have worked hard to avoid this outcome, but were ultimately not able to come to an agreement with our lenders to resolve these issues given the very tight and difficult European credit and refining markets.
“We are fully aware of the impact that this will have on our workforce, their families and the communities where we have operated our businesses.”
Petroplus recently announced that it was shutting down its Petit Couronne facility in France, though labour actions at the site are currently restricting movement of products.
Petroplus’s facility in Antwerp, Belgium was also set to commence a safe shutdown, while its Cressier, Switzerland site was expected to run down crude oil stocks early in the second half of January. The company, meanwhile, listed current throughput at its Ingolstadt and Coryton refineries at 60,000 and 100,000 (bpd), respectively.
In the UK, trade union Unite called on the owners of Coryton fuel refinery and the UK government to safeguard the Essex fuel refinery.
The Coryton refinery, it noted, supplies 20% of the fuel supply for the south east of England, and directly or indirectly employs around 1,000 people.
Linda McCulloch, Unite’s national officer, said: “1,000 jobs are at risk but we firmly believe that joint action by the owners and government can help secure the business. We are in constant dialogue with Petroplus and its Swiss owners, and the UK government about solutions to these developments.
“We are stressing to the workers that their interests are our absolute priority. It is vital that these negotiations are conducted in an atmosphere of calm to allow the best buyer to be found for the site.”
